


Summer of You

by filthynebula



Category: Atypical (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Slow Burn, also minor Nate/Izzie, and Casey/Evan for a bit too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21543151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/filthynebula/pseuds/filthynebula
Summary: Camp Clayton was a nice summer camp, Casey had to admit. It was also obviously a camp for the bratty kids of rich parents, a place to send them away for a month or two so that the rich folks could vacation to Siena or some other fancy place that they wouldn’t want to bring their children to. As they pulled up, Casey eyed the front entrance, a stone archway with the name Clayton in all capitals across the top. She rolled her eyes a little at the elaborate gateway, but mostly she just felt even more nervous. What was she getting herself into?----Summer camp AU where Casey and Izzie are both camp counsellors.
Relationships: Casey Gardner/Izzie
Comments: 103
Kudos: 563





	1. Clayton

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is sponsored by the absolutely breathless way izzie says 'yeah' after the kiss in 3x08 (spoiler alert?)
> 
> i actually don't know a thing about overnight summer camps, pls dont @ me

Casey stared apprehensively out of the car window, nervousness and anxiety knotting in her stomach. Trees surrounded the road as they drove through the forest; it made her feel stifled, as if she were suffocating. 

“I can’t believe you guys are making me do this.”

Her father, Doug, sat in the driver’s seat, and he caught her eye in the rearview mirror. He gave her his best attempt at a stern look, although she’d never found him very intimidating. Her dad was a softie, part-time parent, full-time teddy bear, really. It was Elsa, the dictator, the control freak, who replied first.

“It’ll look good on college applications, honey. And besides, you loved summer camp as a kid!”

Casey rolled her eyes.

“I liked Camp Newton, and I only went there for like two summers. This camp will be nothing like that, plus I’m too old to be going to summer camp.”

“That’s why you’re going as a counsellor,” Doug interjected. “So that you can teach some young minds and be a good role model.”

“Me, a role model?” Casey scoffed. “I don’t think anyone has ever used those words to describe me.”

“Yes, well, now’s your chance to change that,” Elsa said matter-of-factly. “Casey, this is the exact sort of thing a college admissions committee would love to see on your application. It shows that you have good qualities like leadership, integrity, teamwo-”

Casey interrupted her mother with an exaggerated gagging noise. Sam, her brother, glanced at her from his seat beside her. He had his noise-cancelling headphones on, but Casey’s gagging noise had been just loud enough to catch his attention. He looked at her questioningly, but she just shook her head and gave him a look that said, “don’t bother”. She then turned back towards the front of the car, ready to continue pleading her case. 

“I just don’t see why I couldn’t be a counsellor at Camp Newton. Why send me half a state away to some preppy summer camp?”

Else sighed. “Camp Clayton is a prestigious camp-”

“Hah! How can a summer camp be prestigious? Sounds like a load of bullshit.”

Doug caught her eye again in the mirror.

“Maybe this load of bullshit will help you get into a really good college,” he replied, before glancing back at the road. “Alright, we’re here.”

Camp Clayton was a nice summer camp, Casey had to admit. It was also obviously a camp for the bratty kids of rich parents, a place to send them away for a month or two so that the rich folks could vacation to Siena or some other fancy place that they wouldn’t want to bring their children to. As Doug pulled up, Casey eyed the front entrance, a stone archway with the name Clayton in all capitals across the top. If she had to, she’d guess that they were done in brass metal, and definitely looked much fancier than the painted wooden sign she remembered from Camp Newton. She rolled her eyes a little at the elaborate entryway, but mostly she just felt even more nervous. How was she supposed to fit in?

The road beyond the entrance was paved, something Casey again couldn’t help but notice, since the road to Camp Newton had been little more than two tire tracks in the dirt. She tried to stop herself from comparing the two places. It wasn’t like she went to Camp Newton a lot, but something about the supposed grandeur of Camp Clayton had her thinking of every single way that Newton, and by extension, herself, would be inadequate. 

The camp was nestled in the forest, and so it was surrounded by trees on all sides. Even with the trees pressed around it, though, the camp was enormous. Casey thought it might be more like a village than a summer camp. The road they were on continued forward into the main square area and Casey could see several large one-storey buildings in the distance, which she assumed to be the dorms. An even larger, two-storey building sat between them, which she guessed was a cafeteria and multi-purpose kind of building, with activities or something. Between the buildings were green lawns and small gardens, and Casey thought she spotted a small lake off and to the left of the dorms. Other, smaller buildings dotted the space around the larger ones, although Casey guessed that she would have to wait to see what those were for. All the buildings were styled to look like log cabins, although she had a feeling that inside they would be more like miniature mansions. 

Before all of those, however, came a smaller building to their right. Doug pulled their car into the small loading zone at the side of the road. A sign on the grass stated “Camp Information and Registration” in more brass lettering. 

“This looks like quite the place,” Doug commented, staring ahead at the main village while Elsa stepped out of the car. Sam had taken off his headphones and was looking around as if he’d just only realized that they’d arrived.

“It looks like something out of a movie,” he said.

“Yeah, a horror movie maybe,” Casey added, already unloading her duffel bag from the trunk and slinging it over her shoulder. She punched Sam’s shoulder as she walked by him. “So don’t wander off or you’ll get murdered.”

“Doubtful,” Sam replied, falling in step behind his sister. “I’m young and able-bodied, so I should be able to outrun a murderer while Mom and Dad, who are slower, will definitely get murdered first. You’re pretty fast, definitely faster than me, but also I’m far less likely to get murdered because I’m only here to drop you off and say goodbye. You’ll be here for two months, so statistically, the odds are way higher that you’d get murdered out here than me-”

“Sam, please,” Elsa interrupted. “No more talking about your sister getting murdered. Or me and your dad, for that matter. Or anyone.”

Sam shrugged in response, and they all headed for the door of the building. Inside was a reception desk to one side and a park ranger’s desk to the other. The ranger nodded to them politely from beneath his wide-brimmed hat before continuing with some paperwork. The family turned to the reception desk, where a woman in her late 40s was seated, smiling at them. 

“Hi there, and welcome to Camp Clayton. You must be Casey Gardner,” she greeted politely. 

“Yeah, but how would you know that?” Casey asked. 

“Because you’re the last counsellor to arrive,” the receptionist answered, before appearing to cross a name off a list.

Elsa frowned. “I’m sorry, we didn’t realize we were late.”

“No, no, you’re fine,” the bubbly receptionist replied. “Our other counsellors have been here a few times before, and so they tend to arrive early so that they have more time to catch up before the kids arrive tomorrow!”

Casey groaned internally. Not only was she going to be the new kid, but she was going to be the late new kid.

“Oh, well that’s nice of them,” Elsa said, giving Casey a look from of the side of her eye, like she knew she’d been about to complain.

The receptionist hummed in response, before glancing back down at the papers on her desk. “Alright, let’s get you signed in!”

Twenty minutes later, Casey was officially a Camp Clayton counsellor, with a couple of camp t-shirts, a ball cap, and everything. Her parents had asked a ton of questions about things like the dorms and the meals and the other counsellors, while Sam had asked questions about the local wildlife. Casey hadn’t said much of anything, happy to let her family members sap information and energy out of the poor woman behind the desk. Anything to delay her inevitable final goodbye before they left her for two months.

It couldn’t last forever though, and eventually, they left the small building and returned to the car.

“Want us to drive you up to the dorm, Casey?” her father asked. “Looks like a bit of a far walk with that bag.”

Casey looked ahead at the campgrounds that were to be her home for the rest of the summer. She sighed.

“Sure, Dad.”

* * *

The counsellor’s dorms were really nice, Casey had to admit. They occupied some of the smaller buildings she’d seen when they’d first arrived. The kids would get the longer, bigger cabins, which were dorms filled with bunk beds and shared bathrooms. The camp counsellors, meanwhile, were split into groups of four or six and each got smaller dorms that were basically full-on houses. They even had kitchens, although all their meals were provided for by the camp at the cafeteria. One house for four counsellors had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a common room. The houses for six had all the same plus big hot tubs, which seemed ridiculous to Casey, but this was Camp Clayton, after all. She had expected that it would be a little ostentatious.

The dorms were not co-ed and so she was going to be rooming with four other girls, fellow counsellors. Casey wasn’t sure if that meant they were also going to have the same troupe of girls when the kids came, or if they would all be in completely different groups. She really wasn’t sure what to expect at all. 

_Maybe I should have paid more attention at the registration office_ , she thought to herself.

The front door to her dorm had been unlocked when she’d pulled up, and she’d pushed it open tentatively. When no one answered her initial greeting, she shrugged and went in, closing the front door behind her. Her family had all said their goodbyes, and now she was truly alone at Clayton.

Casey slowly moved through the front entryway, trying again to see if any of her roommates were around.

“Uh, hello?” she called.

No response. But she thought that she heard voices coming from somewhere in the house. No one was in a rush to greet her, why should she be in a rush to find them. She decided to poke around the room instead. It was part of her home for the next eight weeks, after all.

The front door was on the very far left side of the house. Just beyond the entryway was a large sitting room, to her right, with a big sectional couch, a coffee table, and a few comfy looking chairs - the kind you would just sink right in to. Ahead of her was the kitchen, with a round table at the centre and an island that also acted as a half-wall between the living room and the kitchen. Along the front wall there was a massive window, so that anyone sitting in the living room or at the island table could look out at their street. At the far end of the room, there was a steep staircase that led up to a small second floor, where there was presumably a bedroom and a bathroom. At the back of the main floor, Casey could see a hallway that also probably led to a bedroom. She could see a bathroom door along the wall to the left of the staircase. All-in-all, she had to admit - these were some seriously nice digs. 

She moved through the living room and saw a binder on the coffee table with the label “Counsellor’s Handbook”. She figured she’d check that out later. Next to the binder was a small card with the information for their wifi. Casey remembered that there definitely hadn’t been wifi at Camp Newton. She had to admit, Camp Clayton definitely had its perks. 

Satisfied with her exploration of the main rooms, Casey headed in the direction of the staircase. She heard voices again, louder this time, and turned towards the hallway on the main floor. Two girls rounded the corner from the bedroom, totally oblivious to Casey’s presence. When they did look up and see her, they both jumped a little, and the taller of the two let out a small squeak.

The taller girl had long brown hair and sharp features: a thin nose, sharp cheekbones, and strong jawline. Casey briefly wondered if she’d ever thought of pursuing a career in modelling. The shorter girl was softer, if only in form and features, because her expression was the angrier, more frightening of the two. Still, Casey noticed the freckles that dotted the girl’s nose and cheeks. It made her seem less scary, if only a little. 

“What the hell, dude?” the angry-looking girl demanded. “Who are you?”

“Uh, sorry. I’m Casey. I did knock, and then I called out, twice. No one answered,” Casey explained. The other girl still looked spooked. The girl who’d confronted Casey was way more intimidating, not that Casey was easily intimidated. But that girl was clearly the one who was going to be doing the talking.

“Ok, and what’re you doing in our dorm, Casey?”

Casey smirked at the fiesty woman in front of her. “Wow, warm welcome.”

Her future roommate rolled her eyes.

“I’m a new counsellor here,” Casey explained, “and this is my dorm.”

Fiesty and Scaredy, as Casey had decided to call them, seemed to calm down at that, and Scaredy even smiled at her sheepishly.

“I’m Penelope-” that was Scaredy “-and this is Izzie.” 

Penelope pointed at the girl standing next to her. Izzie’s body language still screamed ‘intruder’; it was safe to say her hackles were raised. If anything, Casey found it funny, but she didn’t say that out loud. Best not to antagonize her new roommates.

“Cool, nice to meet you guys,” Casey smiled.

“Oh, wait a minute. You used to go to Camp Newton, didn’t you?” Izzie asked.

“Uh, yeah. But how’d you know that?” 

“One of the coordinators mentioned you,” Izzie replied offhandedly. “So, Newton, I guess you’ll be bunking with me. Penelope is already set up with Quinn down here. I’ll show you our room upstairs.”

With that, Izzie left Casey and Penelope in the hallway, stalking off towards the staircase. Penelope gave Casey an apologetic look before heading in the same direction. Casey sighed and turned to follow. 

The upstairs bedroom was basic: two beds, each pressed against the wall opposite the other, and each had a small bedside table beside it. There was a small closest and a dresser with drawers. Izzie had already claimed some of the closet and the top two drawers. Casey tried not to roll her eyes - she’d have to crouch down every time she needed to get some clothes, while Izzie, who was shorter, would have easy access to her own. It was a stupid thing to feel annoyed about, Casey knew, but Izzie hadn’t exactly rolled out the welcome wagon.

The back wall of the room, which looked out on the right side of the house, had a large window with two panels that could open, one next to each bed. The window itself looked out onto a manicured lawn, the next closest building was two or three lots away; another dorm. 

Izzie sat down on the edge of her bed and gestured around the room.

“This is it. Bathroom’s down the hall, outlets are behind the headboards - shitty location, I know.”

“Cool, thanks,” Casey replied, before dropping her duffel bag onto her bed and beginning to rummage through it. Penelope hovered in the doorway.

“So, uh, are you two just gonna watch me unpack then?”

Izzie rolled her eyes and stood up. “Whatever, Newton. See you at the bonfire?”

“The bonfire?”

“Yeah, it’s this kind of welcome party we have every summer, all the counsellors go and mingle on the beach. Definitely the quickest way to get to know people,” Izzie explained.

“Right. Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Izzie didn’t reply, she just nodded once and turned to leave. Penelope shot Casey one last smile before following her roommate out into the hallway. Casey heard their footsteps descending the stairs, and Penelope’s voice echoed up to her as they moved through the main floor.

“She seems pretty cool, don’t you think?”

Izzie didn’t reply immediately, or else Casey didn’t hear it, and instead the next noise was the sound of the front door slamming shut behind the two girls. Casey let out a sigh and got to unpacking her bag, hoping that she hadn’t made a colossal mistake in joining Clayton for the summer.

* * *

Music blared from the party at the beach. What Izzie had described as a welcome party where people could ‘mingle’ was more of a full-blown high school rager. The camp had about twenty counsellors and a ton of additional staff. It looked like everyone had been invited to the party. The bonfire itself was piled incredibly high, flames blaring in the evening, the sun still visible, if barely, along the top of the treeline. 

Casey wandered down to the beach once it was clear that the party was in full swing. She hoped that she could just find her roommates, get to know a few people, and then head back to the dorm. She wasn’t one to be intimidated by strangers and big parties, she just thought it was common sense no to throw herself into a raging, alcohol-filled party on her first night at the camp.

She felt her phone vibrate as she navigated the crowd and she pulled it out of her pocket.

 **Sam [9:12 pm]:** Please let me know what wildlife you see, I want to take a detailed account of your exploration while you’re away. I especially want to know if you see any cool birds. Not that any will be as cool as penguins, but that goes without saying. 

Casey smiled at her phone, and typed out a reply to her brother.

 **Casey [9:12 pm]:** I’ll be sure to let you know, dude.

 **Casey [9:13 pm]:** And don’t go into my room while I’m away!

She hit ‘send’ and then saw that she has several unread messages from Evan, her boyfriend of almost a year. She tapped the conversation in order to read and reply, but a voice interrupted her.

“Casey, over here!”

Casey looked up and saw Penelope waving at her from near the fire where she was standing with Izzie, another girl, and a boy. Casey maneuvered through bodies to reach the group. Her text to Evan would have to wait.

“Hey guys,” she greeted once she reached them. Penelope smiled at her, but Izzie just scowled. 

_What is your problem,_ Casey wanted to ask. Instead, she just looked at the group in more detail, waiting for someone to introduce the other two. Penelope was wearing jean shorts and a tank top. Izzie was in a mini skirt and crop top, hoop earrings swaying as she turned her head to the boy next to her and planted a kiss on his cheek. The boy, however, in shorts and a polo shirt, was looking at Casey.

“Hey,” he extended a hand, “I’m Nate.”

“Casey.” She took his hand and shook it, firmly, like her dad had taught her. She didn’t miss the way Izzie’s eyes narrowed at the contact.

“And I’m Quinn,” the other girl added. She had long, dark hair, a wide smile, and really cute dimples. Casey liked her instantly. She seemed friendlier than Izzie and less shy than Penelope. “You must be the new roommate, the one called Newton.”

“That is me,” Casey replied.

“Cool, although unfortunate you have to bunk with Izzie. Girl’s snoring sounds like a train.”

Izzie reached across Nate to slap Quinn’s arm, and the group laughed easily. Casey felt good, she felt like the ice was breaking. 

Quinn walked over to Penelope and laced their arms together. “We’re going to get some drinks,” she announced. “We’ll meet up with you guys later.”

Izzie scoffed but Nate and Casey just nodded as the two girls walked away.

“Those two are basically joined at the hip,” Nate explained.

“‘Getting drinks’ my ass, those two are definitely going to try to find guys to hook up with,” Izzie scowled..

“Is that a bad thing, babe? Let them have their fun.”

Izzie just rolled her eyes at Nate. “Whatever.”

Casey’s previous comfort vanished as she became the third wheel to… well, she assumed that they were a couple, but no one had actually said so. After a few minutes of awkward chatting, she took it upon herself to ask.

“So, you two are… dating?”

“Duh,” Izzie replied easily, smiling over at Nate and grabbing his chin with her fingers, tilting his head towards her so that she could plant another kiss along his jawline. Nate rolled his eyes but didn’t stop her. Casey figured he must be used to it.

“Cool, cool,” she replied, not sure where to go from there.

“And what about you, Casey?” Nate asked. “Got a boyfriend back home?”

“Yeah, his name’s Evan. Actually, I forgot to text him earlier, sorry, one second.”

With that Casey left the couple at the bonfire and made her way to a more quiet and empty part of the beach. Somewhere she could think without the sound of the music and people shouting. She pulled out her phone and was surprised to see that almost two hours had passed already since she’d walked down to the beach.

 **Evan [6:42 pm]:** I hope it’s going great!!!

 **Evan [6:58 pm]:** Send me pics!

 **Evan [6:59 pm]:** Of the place, obviously. 

**Evan [7:00 pm]:** Unless… ;)

Casey grinned at the texts from her boyfriend before typing out a hasty reply.

 **Casey [11:02 pm]:** SORRY! It was a crazy day. At some dumb ‘welcome party’.

She sent the message and slid her phone back into her pocket before heading back to where she’d been with Izzie and Nate. She only found Nate, though, when she reached their spot, and he smiled at her when he saw her, ushering for her to join him on a log-turned-bench near the fire.

“So, Izzie says you used to go to Camp Newton?” he asked, shortly after they sat down.

“Oh, years ago. It’s not really worth mentioning honestly.”

“And yet you’ve got the nickname ‘Newton’,” Nate teased.

“Yeah, well, I guess I’ve got your girlfriend to thank for that one,” Casey replied, bantering easily with the boy sitting next to her. 

“You know, if you ever need a hand with anything, or finding your way around, I’d be happy to help you out.”

“Really? Thanks, Nate. I definitely might take you up on that.” Casey replied gratefully.

Nate smiled at her, and Casey felt the warm sensation that came with finding a friendly person in a new place. She relaxed a little, and resolved to try not to give Camp Clayton and it’s inhabitants such a hard time.

She looked away from Nate then and caught sight of someone glaring at her from a little ways away.

It was Izzie, and she looked beyond pissed.

 _That girl is going to be nothing but trouble,_ Casey thought to herself, and then she let out a heavy sigh. She had momentarily forgotten that Miss Trouble was her new roommate.

 _Well, this will be a fun summer,_ she thought sarcastically. _Just when things were looking up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise they wont be enemies forever but it is a slowburn and we gotta build that Tension™


	2. Introductions

It wasn’t much longer before Casey and her dormmates went back to their house. Nate tagged along until they reached their front steps, then said goodnight and went off towards his own dorm, giving Izzie a quick kiss before walking away.

“That was fun!” Quinn said as they unlocked their door. Penelope hummed in agreement. The girls had found both drinks and boys to occupy their evening, and their buzz was leaving them in a good mood.

As they entered the house, Quinn and Penelope rummaged around in the kitchen for snacks before heading down the hallway to their shared room. They called out a slightly-tipsy ‘goodnight’ before they were out of sight, leaving Izzie and Casey alone in the entryway. 

“Those two seem like fun,” Casey commented, breaking the silence.

“They’re good. Sometimes they can be a bit much...,” Izzie replied, walking away from Casey towards the kitchen.

“Heh, yeah, I can kind of see that.”

Izzie just hummed in response, her back to Casey as she opened the fridge and poured herself some orange juice. Casey hovered in the entryway, unsure of how to proceed.

It was clear that Izzie wasn’t a huge fan of her, although Casey couldn’t imagine why. Sure, she was a new counsellor and they had a tight-knit group already, and sure, Izzie’s boyfriend had been super nice to her, but were those really good enough reasons for all the hostility?

“Want any?” Izzie’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She was holding the jug of orange juice, one eyebrow quirked, awaiting an answer.

 _I cannot figure you out,_ Casey thought before nodding and heading towards the kitchen.

“So, how long have you been coming to Clayton?” she asked, trying to get to know the girl better.

“Only for a couple years. I didn’t come when I was younger, my family wasn’t rich enough for that,” Izzie replied, and Casey didn’t miss the slight bitterness in her voice. “But when I was old enough to be a counsellor, I worked really hard to get hired. That was two summers ago now.”

“So you were once the new kid too?”

Izzie’s lips quirked into a small smile in spite of herself. “Yeah, I guess I was.”

Casey took a seat at the kitchen table and Izzie sat down across from her, sliding the glass of juice her way. They both sipped silently until Izzie put her glass down and sighed heavily.

“Look, Newton,” Izzie began, the hardness returning to her voice. “You seem nice, honestly, you do. But you showing up here the summer before high school graduation is kind of a slap in the face. I mean, I worked my ass off, the hiring process is ridiculous if you’re not one of the rich kids who basically grew up here. You’re waltzing right in, and I know you’re doing this for your college application, same as the rest of us. But some of us put in real work to be here.”

Casey frowned at the girl’s words.

“Hey, I put in work too,” she replied defensively. “You honestly don’t know anything about me, so I’m not sure what right you think you have to judge me like that.”

Izzie stared at her blankly, before shaking her head to herself and getting up to leave.

“Whatever, Newton. I’m just saying. We’re going to be in the same troupe placement all summer, so don’t mess this up for me.”

Izzie turned and put her glass in the sink, making ready to head up to their bedroom.

“Izzie, wait…,” Casey started, “does this have anything to do with Nate? Because I told you both, I have a boyfriend back-”

“Why would this have anything to do with Nate?” Izzie shot back, turning around to glare at Casey, her eyes narrowing. 

“I just thought, well, because he was so friendly tonight-” Casey regretted opening her mouth immediately. _Goddamnit._

“I’m not some possessive girlfriend,” Izzie retorted. “There are more important things than boys, Newton.”

“No, I know, sorry, I just-”

“I can promise you - this has nothing to do with Nate, and everything to do with the fact that you don’t belong here.”

With that, Izzie stalked out of the room and towards the stairs. Casey sighed, opting to stay in the kitchen and drink her juice before following her roommate to the second level. 

When she got upstairs, Izzie had already finished in the bathroom and climbed into bed. She was laying facing away from Casey, towards the wall, blanket tucked up to her shoulders, headphones in her ears. Casey rolled her eyes as she entered the bedroom but otherwise didn’t bother the girl. It had been a long day, she’d deal with Izzie tomorrow.

And the next day. And every day for the rest of the summer.

Casey let out another heavy sigh before grabbing her pyjamas and heading for the bathroom. 

When she woke up the next morning, Izzie was already gone. Casey was thankful for that, not ready to deal with the girl’s cold looks first thing in the morning. She rolled over towards her bedside table and checked her phone. She had a text from Evan and a text from Elsa.

 **Evan [11:42 pm]:** A welcome party sounds fun, try to be nice!

Casey rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. She typed out a quick reply and then opened the message from her mother.

 **Elsa [7:32 am]:** How’s it going, honey?

That message Casey ignored. 

When they had decided that she would go to Clayton for the summer, everyone’s first thought had been of Sam. How would Sam manage with Casey gone for two months? But Casey knew better - Sam would be fine. He was older and more independent than he’d been when they were kids, and he was still living at home so their parents would be around to help him out. Casey knew the only one who’d really have trouble with her being away was Elsa, and not for any real reason other than her maternal need to meddle and elbow her way into Casey’s life. Despite her misgivings about summer camp, Casey was glad for the break from her family.

She put her phone back on the nightstand and threw the covers off her body. She got changed and ready for the day, then went downstairs towards the kitchen. Her roommates were all sitting in the kitchen, laughing and trading stories. They didn’t notice her coming silently down the stairs.

“...And then Mike stripped down to his boxers and ran into the lake. How stupid is that? Everyone knows that the lake is frigid as fuck!” Quinn was saying, laughing between bits of the story.

Izzie was the first one to spot Casey, meeting her eyes with an indifferent sort of stare. Casey stuck her tongue out at her before the other girls could notice, and she felt immediate satisfaction at the way Izzie’s eyebrows furrowed together in irritation.

 _Score,_ she thought to herself smugly. If Izzie wasn’t going be polite, why should she? She wouldn’t be mean about it though, she would just be a nuisance. Elsa had always said that it was one of her greatest strengths.

“Hey Casey, we didn’t even hear you come down,” Quinn said, smiling at her. “How was your first night?”

“Oh, you know,” Casey replied, giving off an air of nonchalance as she walked into the kitchen. “No bear attacks, no alcohol poisoning, no stripping down and running into the lake. I’d call it a success.”

Quinn and Penelope laughed at her comment before continuing on with their stories of the night before. Izzie just rolled her eyes.

“So, what do we do today?” Casey asked once she’d seated herself down at the table with a glass of water.

“Jeez, you really know nothing about summer camp, do you?” Penelope teased. 

Casey tried not to feel insecure at the comment. “Nope.”

“Did you read the handbook?” Izzie asked, lazily, as if she full well knew that Casey had not.

“Sure, I leafed through it a little,” Casey lied.

Quinn chuckled at the obvious lie. “It’s all good. It’s easy stuff. Soon we’ll head to the mess hall for breakfast and then there’ll be a big orientation for the counsellors. Then we’ll do some prep stuff this afternoon to get ready for kids, and maybe catch an hour or two of downtime before they actually start to show up.”

Casey nodded, taking in the information. “And do we have to wear Camp Clayton shirts every day? Because I only got like three or four.”

“Nah, just try to wear them more often than not,” Quinn replied. “You don’t have to wear one today, technically, but we’re supposed to have them on when the kids arrive later, around 4:30.”

“Cool, cool, alright,” Casey said, looking down at her simple striped t-shirt. The other girls weren’t wearing Clayton shirts either so she decided she’d change later.

“Come on,” Izzie said, standing up from the table, “let’s get going. Breakfast is in ten.”

They left the house shortly afterwards, Izzie leading the way to the central, two-storey building that Casey had spotted the previous day. Quinn and Penelope carried most of the conversation. Whenever Casey added a comment, Izzie would generally stop talking, or else only respond with single word replies. Casey was glad that it was a short walk to the mess hall.

Much as she had expected, the interior of the building was nicely decorated and very clean. The cafeteria occupied almost the entire main floor, with the serving area at one end of the room and rows upon rows of wooden tables and chairs taking up the rest of it. At the far end of the building were massive floor-to-ceiling windows that gave the entire cafeteria a stunning view of the lake.

“This place is insane,” she commented, mostly to herself. 

“Just wait ‘til you see the second floor,” Penelope whispered to her. “There’s a movie room, a library, conference rooms, and a game room.”

Casey shot Penelope a look that said ‘you’re kidding, right?’. Penelope shook her head in response.

“Wow, alright then,” Casey said, almost whistling in appreciation of the place.

 _Aside from my angry roommate, this place might not be that bad,_ she thought, following her fellow counsellors into the building.

* * *

The rest of the day was a complete blur. The food at breakfast and lunch had been incredible, which had initially surprised Casey, although in retrospect maybe it shouldn’t have. This was Clayton, after all, and the cooks were probably all flown in from some fancy culinary arts school to work over the summer. At least, that was what Casey imagined after tasting the three-egg omelette she’d had for breakfast.

The counsellors’ orientation had been a breeze, and it had given Casey a good chunk of information that she guessed she’d probably have learned from the handbook, if she’d read it. Kids would be arriving around 4:30 and they would be split into groups by age and assigned to their counsellors. The counsellors would then show them to their dorms, where they would unpack and then head out to a pre-determined spot around the campgrounds to do their own little orientation activity. After that would be dinner, then a big campfire for all the groups, and then camper curfew around 9 o’clock.

It sounded simple enough to Casey, although she was a little apprehensive about her group. She and Izzie were going to be co-counsellors, which, first of all, sucked. Secondly, their group was going to be girls aged 10-11, which she imagined would be a bratty bunch. Although, Quinn and Penelope’s group were the girls aged 12-13, the oldest at the camp, and she had to admit that that sounded like a handful as well. 

Quinn and Penelope had the power of teamwork, though. Casey and Izzie had, well, the power of passive-aggressive communication.

At that moment, she and Izzie were waiting for their names to be called. They stood idly in the mess hall, a fair distance between them. Although they had to stay close enough so that their incoming group would know that they were their counsellors, they were pointedly facing away from each other, pretending to be interested in anything else.

The kids had all arrived and been sent to the mess hall, where the camp coordinator, Counsellor Crowley, was giving an introductory presentation before splitting up the groups. Then, Casey and Izzie would take their troupe to their dorm, let them settle in a bit, and then head down to their assigned spot on the lakeshore for an orientation activity.

Eventually, they heard their names called, and a group of twelve girls came trodding up to them. Casey began to feel incredibly nervous, but she smiled at them all the same. They were going to be like her little family for the next two months and so she wanted to start off on a good note.

Izzie beat her to the introductions, though.

“Hey girls, I’m Izzie, and this is Newt- I mean, Casey, and we’re going to be your counsellors for the summer.”

Casey thought her jaw would’ve dropped had she not been clenching it so tight from nerves. She had never heard Izzie sound so… _friendly._ Even with their other dormmates, or Nate, Izzie seemed all business. Casey turned and stared at her co-counsellor, trying not to let her shock show.

The girls called out ‘hello’s and ‘hi’s as they formed into a small gathering in front of the two counsellors. Casey noticed that many of them looked at her oddly, before focusing on Izzie.

 _They’ve all probably been here before,_ she thought. So _they all recognize Izzie._

Izzie led their campers towards the front doors of the mess hall, and Casey took up the rear to make sure that no one lagged behind. The girls didn’t pay her much attention, except for the odd glance back in her direction. Most of them chattered excitedly amongst themselves, and a few were even orbiting around Izzie, talking to her animatedly with big grins on their faces. The ones who knew Izzie from previous years obviously loved her.

If Casey hadn’t been so determined to dislike her fellow counsellor, she might’ve found it cute. Despite her best efforts, she still found her opinion of the other girl softening just a little.

It was a short walk to their campers’ dorm, one of the large buildings settled by the lake. While the long building was technically the dorm for all of the female campers, the building was sectioned off in places to give each troupe a bit of privacy. Izzie led their group up to the front door of their section, stopping to address the girls before she let them inside.

“Alright, girls, this will be your dorm room for the summer. You’re old enough now to choose your own beds, but if I-,” she glanced briefly towards Casey before continuing, “-if _we_ hear any complaints or fighting over beds, we’ll assign them ourselves. I want you to head on in and get yourselves settled, but be back out here in half an hour so we can get started on our first activity.”

With that, Izzie opened the door and the young girls flooded inside, squealing and running to pick their beds. Casey glanced inside the dorm and saw rows of bunk beds, each with a chest of drawers for the girl on the top bunk and drawers built into the bottom bunk for the other girl. The room was nice, nothing like the dorms at Camp Newton had been, with broken screen windows, creaky floorboards, and spiderwebs dangling in the lights. This dorm was cozy, like a cabin, but it was also obviously well-maintained. It was heated, it was clean, and the girls had their own bathroom, complete with several stalls and showers. Casey whistled appreciatively before letting the door shut and turning back towards Izzie.

“Pretty nice set up for a bunch of kiddos.”

Izzie glanced at her and shrugged before looking back towards the lake. “It’s Clayton. It’s what they expect.”

Casey returned her shrug with one of her own, resuming the silence that seemed to be becoming commonplace between them. Several minutes passed, and they could hear their gaggle of girls still shrieking with excitement and energy in the room behind them.

Casey cleared her throat, and Izzie looked towards her again. “So, uh, they seem to really like you.”

Izzie couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips. “Yeah, this will be my third year with some of them. In my first year here I worked with the girls aged 8 and 9. My second year, they moved me up to 10s and 11s, so there are a few who’ve been with me every summer.”

Casey couldn’t help the words that fell out of her mouth next, traitorous as they were.

“It’s really sweet,” she said softly, staring at the ground, embarrassed at having dropped her snarky attitude. She was supposed to be being a nuisance.

Izzie looked up at her, a little surprised, before looking at her own feet. “Yeah, well, I’m good with kids.”

Silence fell between them again, but this time it wasn’t nearly so heavy, so charged with tension. Casey felt her nerves unwind, the anxiety in her stomach gnawing at her a little less.

It wasn’t long before girls slowly started to file out of the dorm. With the initial excitement of bed-choosing wearing off, most of them didn’t need the full half-hour to settle in, wanting instead to get started with their activities. When all the girls were outside, Izzie got their attention by whistling through her fingers.

“Alright girls, lets head down to the lake.”

Once they reached their spot, Izzie had all the girls sit in a circle on the pebbled shore. Casey thought about making some smart comment about the lack of chairs, seeing as how this was richy-rich Camp Clayton, but she held her tongue. Annoying Izzie was one thing, but being disrespectful about her place of employment in front of her troupe probably wouldn’t earn her any bonus points on her college application.

When they were all seated, Izzie looked at Casey expectantly. And a little smugly. 

_She thinks I don’t have any idea what to do._

Casey cleared her throat nervously before addressing her campers.

“Okay, well, first things off we’re going to do a little activity to get to know everyone. So, uh, we’ll go around the circle and say our names and one thing we’re good at.” She glanced over at Izzie, who was seated to her left and smirked. “In fact, Izzie is going to start us off.”

Izzie rolled her eyes like she hadn’t expected anything less, and began her introduction.

“Alright, well as I said before, I’m Izzie. And I’ll say… I’m good at being a camp counsellor.” 

Some of the girls laughed at the lame joke and Izzie smiled sheepishly. Casey stuck her finger in her mouth and fake-gagged, and Izzie shot her a dirty look. They continued on, though, and the girl to Izzie’s left began her introduction. Casey did really try to remember all of the girls’ names but it was a lot of information at once. She figured she’d get there eventually.

The introductions made their way around the circle until it came to be Casey’s turn. She regretted making Izzie go first since she’d completely forgotten that it meant that she would have to go last. The girls looked at her expectantly.

“Okay, I’m Casey and… I’m really good at running.”

Izzie, who hadn’t really been paying attention, whipped around to face Casey. Before she could say anything, though, one of the girls piped up.

“Izzie’s a runner too!”

Casey glanced over at her co-counsellor, grinning. “No kidding.”

Izzie narrowed her eyes at her but otherwise didn’t comment. She looked annoyed, but it didn’t seem like she was going to say anything about it in front of the girls. She was going to get up and get them started on their next activity. One of the girls had another idea though.

“You two should race!”

And before either of the counsellors could say otherwise, their group of twelve campers broke into a chant.

“Race! Race! Race!” they cried.

Casey turned to look at Izzie, unsure of how to proceed. Izzie met her gaze with an amused look, and, if Casey wasn’t mistaken, a hint of competitiveness as well. Something had changed, and her co-counsellor no longer looked as annoyed as before. In fact, she had one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face, as if daring Casey to challenge her.

“Well, Newton, wanna race?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm making pretty good progress on the story so it shouldn't be too long between updates - thanks for reading!
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by caffeine and coffee mate


	3. Near Collision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for the love and support, comments make my heart go !!!

Casey took a moment to think about what she was doing. Or was about to do.

It hadn’t taken much for the girls to get their counsellors to agree to a race. The chanting, combined with Izzie’s competitive smirk and Casey’s own love of a challenge, had easily motivated her to follow Izzie to a nearby pathway.

The pathway circled the lake. That fact alone got Casey excited, as it meant she’d have somewhere to run over the summer that wasn’t just a treadmill. That and it would definitely give her a break from her campers and her less-than-amicable roommate.

At that moment, however, she was having second thoughts about the race. What if the camp coordinators frowned on competitions between counsellors? What if she made a fool of herself in front of kids who already didn’t like her as much as Izzie? What if she lost?

_It’s just a dumb race, chill out,_ she told herself.

She and Izzie approached the makeshift starting line: a twig that one of the girls had placed along the side of the pathway. About 100 metres down the path stood another girl from their group, waving her sweater like a flag, marking the finish line. Their section of the path was relatively straight, although Casey could see that further along it began to curve into the woods around the lake.

_I’ll check it out tomorrow morning,_ she told herself before taking her place at the starting line. She glanced over at Izzie, who had bent down into a typical racer’s starting position: feet staggered, knees bent, hands placed on the pathway in front of her. Casey couldn’t help but laugh.

“Wow, taking this pretty seriously, huh?” 

Izzie gave her co-counsellor a smug look. “You can start standing up if you want. I just figured that if you were ‘so good’ at running you’d want to set up like you would for a real race."

Casey pressed her lips into a thin line and took her position next to Izzie. “Fine,” she snapped back. “But you’re asking for it.”

Izzie didn’t reply and instead just hummed absently. When they were both set, she called to the girl at the finish line.

“Ready, Claire?”

The girl nodded.

“Alright, who’s going to say ‘go’?” Izzie continued.

Three or four girls shrieked excitedly that they would do it, and Izzie picked one girl, Abby, to have the official honour. Abby approached the side of the starting line, her face serious, her hand in the air.

“Ready, set, go!” she cried, lowering her arm to signal the start of the race.

Casey shot up from her starting position, taking her first couple strides to get upright, then pumping her legs forward down the pathway. She heard the sound of Izzie’s feet hitting the pavement beside her.

Right beside her. 

She grit her teeth and pushed herself harder. Izzie huffed in frustration next to her and began to pick up her pace. Down the path ahead of them, Claire was waving her sweater excitedly.

Casey liked running. She was good at it and she found it soothing, the way her feet hit the ground and her lungs ached after a hard sprint. But Casey _loved_ competing. She could take something that she was already good at and amplify it, using it to further herself and to prove to others that this was her; this was what she did best.

She started to pull away from Izzie in the last ten metres of the race, gaining a couple of strides on the other girl. She crossed the finish line grinning and turned to shoot Izzie a triumphant look. Izzie scowled at her but otherwise didn’t say anything, doubling over to catch her breath instead. She couldn’t argue with facts, and the fact was that Casey had beat her fair and square.

“Casey wins!” Claire shouted, and the rest of their group cheered from the starting line. 

_Maybe now I’ll have better luck getting them to like me,_ Casey mused.

With that, Claire set off towards the rest of her friends while the two counsellors followed behind. Both girls were still panting, trying to get their breathing under control. Finally, Izzie broke the ragged kind of silence between them.

“You’re fast, Newton.”

Casey turned to look at her, trying to see if there was any maliciousness behind the comment. Izzie wasn’t looking at her, though. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she seemed overly focused on the pathway ahead of them. Casey wanted to bug her but something held her back. Could it be that she actually wanted this girl to like her?

_Of course not._ She scolded herself for even thinking of it. And yet, she found that she didn’t have any snarky remark ready to go, so she merely glanced away from Izzie and stared ahead as well.

“You're not too bad yourself,“ she murmured, and they left it at that.

* * *

It was finally the end of an insanely long day. Casey and Izzie’s campers were back in their dorm with curfew fast approaching. The counsellors had already given them an end-of-the-day kind of speech, telling them they did well on their first few activities and that the next day would be really exciting because it was the first _full_ day. With that, they’d said goodnight to the girls and started the walk back to their dorm, just the two of them in their typical silence. 

To Casey’s surprise, it was Izzie who broke it.

“You, uh, you did good today, Newton,” she said, refusing the meet her co-counsellor’s gaze, pretending instead to be fascinated by the garden they were passing by.

“Could it be?” Casey couldn’t keep the teasing tone from her voice. “A compliment from the Ice Queen herself?”

“Don’t push your luck,” came Izzie’s reply, but Casey stole a glance at her from the corner of her eye. She watched how the Izzie pursed her lips: not in annoyance, but in an effort not to smile. Casey found herself struggling to keep a straight face as well.

They reached the dorm shortly after. As they approached the front steps of their dorm, a thought occurred to Casey.

“Hey, so, what time do we need to start tomorrow?”

Izzie paused, her hand on the doorknob, and turned to look at her.

“Seriously, Newton? Quinn was right, you’re totally clueless.” Izzie sighed before continuing, “I can’t believe I have to worry about a group of twelve little girls _and_ teaching you the ropes.”

“I’m a fast learner,” Casey replied offhandedly. “Just tell me what time we start tomorrow.”

“We get the girls up for breakfast around 8:30.”

“Perfect, that’ll give me plenty of time.”

Izzie raised an eyebrow in question but once it became clear that Casey had no intention of explaining, she shrugged and turned away, opening the door to their dorm.

The girls found Penelope and Quinn seated in the living room, chatting about their group of campers. Casey and Izzie joined in, and the four counsellors traded stories of the first day. Casey was surprised when Izzie brought up the race. She’d assumed that other girl wouldn’t have wanted her friends to know about it.

“Yup,” Izzie was saying, “Newton’s pretty fast, I have to admit.”

At the comment, Penelope let her head roll back against the couch and whispered ‘oh no’.

Quinn groaned. “Now you’ve done it, Newton.”

Casey hadn’t even registered that the other girls were using her nickname. Even though it was something Ice Queen Izzie had started, she found herself warming up to it.

“What?”

“You’ve put Izzie into competitive mode,” Quinn explained. “Izzie is, like, one of the most competitive people we know. If you beat her today that means she’ll take any and every opportunity to get you back, for the rest of the summer.”

Casey laughed nervously, avoiding Izzie’s gaze. She guessed the other girl was probably giving her one of her characteristic evil smirks. “Heh... I’m sorry, for the _rest_ of the summer, you say?”

Both Quinn and Penelope nodded sympathetically, although Casey saw that they were trying to hide their grins. Not for the first time, Casey wondered what she’d been getting herself into.

The girls chatted for a bit longer before saying goodnight and heading to their respective bedrooms. Casey took the bathroom first while Izzie changed in their bedroom, and she used the privacy to check her messages from Evan.

**Evan [10:32 am]:** Have a great first day!

**Evan [1:45 pm]:** Hope you’re making friends!

**Evan [1:47 pm]:** Of course you are - it's you.

**Evan [5:53 pm]:** Can you tell I’m already bored without you?

Casey grinned around her toothbrush, tapping out a reply with her other hand. 

**Casey [9:48 pm]:** First day was LONG. Group is cute, ages 10 and 11. The other counsellor is a pain tho. Her name’s Izzie.

Casey hit send and spat into the sink. She felt her phone vibrate on the countertop.

**Evan [9:49 pm]:** Izzie = 👿?

Casey laughed and replied quickly before locking her phone and heading for the bedroom. Izzie passed her in the hallway but the two girls ignored each other. Casey got the feeling that it was just going to be like that sometimes. One minute she seemed to be making progress with her, the next they were back to being lukewarm acquaintances at best.

Casey changed and crawled into bed and, much in the same way that Izzie had done the night before, she ducked her head almost entirely beneath the covers and pretended to be asleep. 

Izzie came in a few minutes later. She thought maybe she heard the girl pause at the space between their beds but she didn’t check to look. Whatever Izzie was doing didn’t last long, as Casey heard the sound of the other girl’s bed shifting as she climbed in. And then it was silent.

_Day one done_ , Casey thought to herself, a little bit relieved and a little bit proud at the same time. Then she set about trying to fall asleep for real.

* * *

If Casey had thought that her first day at Clayton was a blur, she was in no way prepared for how the next four days flew by. Her first week of counselling was almost over before she knew it.

It had been hectic. She’d spent the first two days feeling like she was always struggling to stay on top of things. Between memorizing the girls’ names, organizing activities, and settling any disputes between campers, she’d felt overwhelmed after just the first 48 hours. 

Izzie was no help either - the girl seemed to take pleasure in watching Casey fumble her way through her role as a camp counsellor. Of course, true to her word from their first night together, she was not about to let Casey do anything that reflected badly on them as a team, or on their troupe, which meant that any serious disasters had been avoided. 

So far.

Casey was acutely aware that it was never too late to, well, completely fuck up.

Aside from her responsibilities as a counsellor, though, she was starting to really enjoy Camp Clayton. Quinn and Penelope made up for whatever friendliness Izzie lacked, and Casey had even met a few of the other counsellors when they got together to hangout after camper curfew. She’d seen Nate a couple of times, although she hadn’t actually needed much help getting acquainted with the place since Quinn and Penelope had taken a liking to her almost instantly. While they never intervened in the weird tension between Casey and Izzie, they were both incredibly helpful and friendly, and Casey was grateful for that. By day four, she actually felt like she was starting to get the hang of things.

And, on top of her responsibilities as a camp counsellor, there were also her responsibilities as a caring sister.

Sam had started calling her every evening, a little after 9, when Casey’s counselling duties were officially done for the day. He’d told that after the first two nights without her he found it too weird to go an entire day without hearing her voice. Casey had gagged over the phone to her brother, but in reality, the comment had put a crooked smile on her face.

That evening, she had just started a run around the lake when the music in her headphones was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing.

She tried to run almost every day but the timing was always different. That night that the campers were exhausted from their day’s activities and had all been ready to settle down a little earlier. Casey took the opportunity to dash back to the dorm, lace on her shoes, and head to the path at the lake.

Casey kept moving as her phone rang, slowing her pace just a little so she wouldn’t be struggling to breathe and talk at the same time. She clicked the little button on her headphones to answer the call.

“Hey Sam, what’s up?”

“Casey-” in Casey’s opinion, her brother’s matter-of-factness always had a way of making it sound like he was going to make a business proposal, “-you almost didn’t pick up in time. You were on the last ring.”

“Just keeping you on your toes,” she chirped as she began to round the first bend in the pathway.

“I’m actually sitting at my desk,” Sam replied, ever literal. “I’m reading the wikipedia page about all the birds in Maine. There are way more bird species in Maine than there are of Antarctic penguins. Good thing I don’t have to recite those when I’m anxious, it would probably make me more nervous to try and remember them all.”

Sam’s replacement behaviours hadn’t always been easy for Casey to understand. When she was little she used to burst into his room when he was pacing and complain about all his stomping about. Now that they were both older, though, she knew when he needed space. And she knew when he could handle some sisterly teasing. For the most part.

Sam continued to tell her about the birds, which led to a story about his friend, Zahid, which led to another story about his day at work. Casey let her brother talk her ear off; she knew that the phone calls were more for him than they were for her. Not to mention that the running kept her from being overly chatty.

She let the methodical lilt of Sam’s voice be her focus, repressing the feeling of her lungs burning and sweat tickling her neck. The light of the setting sun was shining through the trees that surrounded her path. The lake lay a little way off to her right, while the forest continued endlessly to her left. She took a deep breath as Sam began another story, enjoying the evening air and the way that the ground met her strides with a reassuring kind of stability.

Sometimes life with Sam, or just life in general, got tough. But running was always easy.

After about 25 minutes she cut off another one of Sam’s tangents. She loved her brother, but after a long day with a troupe of little girls, she needed at least a bit of quiet time to herself.

“Hey numbnuts, this has been fun, but I gotta go.”

“That makes no sense, they aren’t n-” 

Casey hung up. 

She figured Sam would text her sooner or later to finish that train of thought, but otherwise, he was pretty used to her abrupt departures from conversations.

She let the stillness of the evening settle around her. The only consistent sound was the soft thumping of her feet hitting the ground. Every once in awhile she heard birds or squirrels calling out, but overall it was a peaceful evening. 

She had almost finished her run around the lake when she heard the sound of someone’s voice. At first, she didn’t think much of it, other than the fact that it had startled her, but a few strides later she realized that she was getting closer to whoever was talking.

As Casey rounded the last bend before the pathway met back up with the campgrounds, a blind corner surrounded by densely packed trees, she almost ran right into Izzie. 

The other girl had been on the phone, her eyes on the ground in front of her, and clearly hadn’t been expecting to see anyone else on the pathway. A last-second dodge, spurred by Casey’s reflexes alone, was the only thing that kept them from colliding. 

Izzie swore as Casey stumbled to a stop, apparently done with whatever phone call she’d been on.

“Shit, Newton, what the hell?!”

Casey thought she might be having deja-vu from that first day when they’d met in the dorm room. Was Izzie ever going to lighten up a little?

A second later, though, Casey forgot entirely about Izzie’s snarky behaviour. She turned to look at the girl she’d almost run into and saw the telltale signs of crying: red eyes, tear tracks, tiny sniffles she was obviously trying to hide. Casey took a step towards her, and, without even thinking, raised a hand as if to offer her some form of comfort. 

To her surprise, Izzie didn’t flinch back but instead let Casey place her hand on her arm, although she refused to meet her eyes. She kept her gaze firmly placed anywhere other than on Casey, biting her lip nervously.

Casey couldn't help the way she softened at the sight of it. 

“Izzie, what’s wrong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was sponsored by my freshly torn acl, thanks to whom i do nothing but sit and write all day


	4. Transformation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick thank you to the folks sendin me get well vibes about my knee!
> 
> this chapter was an absolute joy to write, hopefully ya'll find it equally delightful to read

“It’s nothing,” Izzie said defiantly, but Casey wasn’t convinced. The evidence of Izzie’s crying was still clear, and while she’d been managing to be a nuisance the past few days, Casey wasn’t about to start acting like an asshole for real.

“Come on, Izzie. I’ve never seen you cry before-”

“You’ve hardly known me a week-”

“Yeah, well,” Casey continued, “You don’t seem like much of a crier to me. You’re tough as nails.”

“You can cry and still be tough, Newton.”

Any other time, Casey would’ve given up then and there. Izzie was sarcastic and rude and clearly not interested in being friends.

But something made her press on. 

Maybe it was the way Izzie had looked in that moment when Casey had almost run into her; vulnerable, worn down. Or maybe it was how Izzie still hadn’t moved away, still hadn’t yanked her arm out from under Casey’s touch. Like it was keeping her grounded while the rest of the world fell to pieces. So Casey tried again.

“You know what I mean. Izzie, come on. I know we’ve had our moments but I’m your co-counsellor. Who better to talk about all your problems with than me?” 

Casey had intended it as a joke, and, mercifully, Izzie chuckled a little. Then she let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s just family stuff. I’ve got three younger siblings at home. Well, they aren’t home now, my grandma’s got them - that’s who was on the phone. I guess my mom up and left _again_ , which normally I can handle but, obviously, I’m not home right now! She just left the kids _alone_ and no one knew and I wasn’t there-,” Izzie choked back a small sob, trying not to let the tears start falling again. “It can just be a lot sometimes ‘cause I’m basically like their mom, which it bullshit since they _have_ a mom... but...,” she trailed off.

“Your mom sounds… difficult,” Casey offered.

“She’s useless,” Izzie replied, huffing in frustration, anger replacing her worry. “You know, the not-around-a-lot, has-terrible-taste-in-men type.”

Casey let out a small laugh. “I actually don’t, my mom is the complete opposite. Total control freak, helicopter-parent kind of style.”

She felt Izzie tense up beneath her touch and Casey knew she had to make common ground before the other girl put all of her walls back up.

“But I do know how difficult family can be sometimes. My brother has autism. He’s pretty high-functioning, but still, it can be a lot. It _was_ a lot when we were little. I don’t remember a ton of it, honestly. Maybe because I was never high on the priority list for my parents back then. I mean- well, things have gotten better now, sure, but still, sometimes it can be-“ Casey caught herself mid-sentence and shook her head sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m rambling now.”

She glanced at Izzie, trying to gauge her reaction. To her relief, her co-counsellor had relaxed. She even looked understanding.

“That’s… that actually helps a lot, Casey, thanks.” Izzie frowned a little as she said Casey’s name. “Is that the first time I’ve called you Casey all week?”

“No,” Casey smiled, “You usually use my name in front of the campers. I think it’s the first time you’ve used it other than that, though… Oh! Unless you count that first day when you were all pissy with me for surprising you guys at the dorm.”

Casey hadn’t intended it to sound bitter, and it hadn’t, but the words seemed to hit Izzie somehow, making her frown. She was quiet for a moment, and then she met Casey’s gaze. 

“Wow, I’ve kind of been a bit of a dick to you, haven’t I?”

“Ah, don’t ask me that right now! You’re clearly having a rough night and you wouldn’t want my brutal honesty to bring you down even more,” Casey teased.

Izzie laughed at that, although she still looked a bit embarrassed. 

“I’m sorry, Newton. I’ll try to be less of a dick from now on.” She paused, biting her lip before continuing, “the girls were right, you’re actually pretty cool.”

“Watch out, ladies and gentlemen, now she’s delirious!” Casey yelled to no one in particular. Izzie laughed; Casey smiled. The world kept spinning.

An awkward silence fell between. The two girls were alone on the path in the dying light. An owl hooted in the distance, making Izzie jump.

“Damn, it’s getting late,” she said. “Come on, we should head back to the dorm.”

“Right away, Your Majesty!”

Izzie stepped out of Casey’s grasp - truthfully, Casey had completely forgotten she’d been holding onto the other girl’s arm at all - and Izzie smacked her shoulder.

“Hey! I’m trying to be nice to you but I won’t be if you’re gonna be like that!” she shouted, but there was no edge to the threat and Casey knew it.

“Roger that, Your Ma-” Casey started, but broke down laughing when she caught sight of the real death glare that Izzie was giving her. 

Well, more real than her weak threat had been. 

“Come on, let’s go.”

They started walking towards the campgrounds, for once not in complete silence as they finally broke the ice between them. Before they got too close, however, Izzie stopped and pulled Casey aside.

“Hey, Newton?” 

“Yeah?”

“Thanks again. I’m, uh, really glad you almost crashed into me in the woods.”

Casey gave her co-counsellor a goofy little bow and hand wave. “Anytime, I’m always happy to help a damsel in distress.”

Izzie rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face told Casey that things between them were finally changing. She felt herself grinning too.

When they got back to their dorm, Penelope and Quinn were lounging in the sitting room. The sound of Casey and Izzie’s voices drew their attention, and their jaws nearly hit the floor as they watched the two girls enter the house.

“Hold up-” 

“Excuse me-”

Casey and Izzie had been so caught up in the moment, the newness and excitement of actually getting to know another person, that they hadn’t even noticed their roommates.

“Are you two… are you two _friends_ now?!” Quinn exclaimed.

“Did I hit my freakin’ head today?” Penelope added.

Casey and Izzie both rolled their eyes, and the synchronization between them only made them laugh more, which, in turn, made their roommates look even more shocked.

Quinn was the first to recover. 

“Alright. Whoever brokered the peace treaty between you two should be nominated for a Nobel Prize,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Yeah, seriously, what gives?” Penelope asked. “Not like we aren’t happy, obviously! But just wondering what could’ve made you two pull your sticks out of your asses today in particular.”

Casey was about to make a comment about how, actually, it had been Izzie with the stick up her ass while she had merely been an innocent, friendly bystander. But then she caught a look at Izzie’s face.

The other girl’s smile had faded a little and she bit her lip as she debated how to answer the question, not wanting to share the details of her personal life with the other girls. Casey picked up on it and came to her defence.

“The power of friendship, obviously,” she told them, playing it off like it was no big deal. “I mean, what do you expect - we spend, like, twelve hours a day with little kids who do nothing but talk about unicorns and cakes baked with rainbows and smiles.”

Penelope narrowed her eyes. “You stole that from Mean Girls.”

“Sue me,” Casey shot back, sticking her tongue out at her roommate before heading towards the kitchen.

While she knew it was a weak answer, Quinn and Penelope didn’t seem to need any further explanation. They were just happy that they wouldn’t have to be in a house that was like “living in the middle of the Cold War”.

Casey hadn’t even realized that Izzie had followed her into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of juice and held the jug up to Izzie in question.

“Yeah, I’ll have some. Thanks.”

Casey turned to grab another glass out of the cabinet nearby and was surprised to feel Izzie slide up next to her along the counter.

“And, uh, thanks for not saying anything about… you know,” she whispered.

Casey turned and saw the look that Izzie was giving her: she looked vulnerable but honest. And earnest. She wanted her to know how much it had meant to her.

The sincerity of it startled Casey. She was so used to Izzie being cold that she wasn’t prepared for how it would feel to have her affection. In the moment, it made her mouth go dry.

“Yeah, no problem,” she choked out.

Izzie smiled gratefully.

“What are you two doing in there?!” Penelope yelled from the living room. “Sharing your deepest, darkest secrets?”

Izzie laughed and pushed away from the counter, moving to join the other girls in the living room. Casey followed shortly after with two glasses of orange juice. She barged into the conversation by making some joke at Quinn’s expense, the moment in the kitchen already forgotten.

* * *

By the end of the second week, Casey couldn’t imagine why she’d ever been worried about coming to Clayton.

Her troupe, which had voted to name themselves the Flying Squirrels, was adorable and, for the most part, well-behaved. Her roommates were fun and always up for some kind of adventure in their downtime. Not to mention that the meals every day at the mess hall were incredible.

Sure, sometimes she missed her brother, but she would never admit it out loud. And she definitely missed Evan too. But those feelings always seemed to nag at her less whenever she was with Izzie.

Their friendship hadn’t bloomed so much as erupted from the earth. One week after their run-in on the path, they were inseparable. It had thrown off Quinn and Penelope that first night and even Nate found it unnerving, to begin with, but they’d all resigned themselves to the fact that Casey and Izzie were quickly becoming the best of friends.

It did wonders for their co-counselling, too. Their group of girls adored them, and Casey and Izzie’s newfound friendship entertained them to no end. Now that there was no tension between them, it was easy to trade responsibilities and coordinate activities.

It was also easy to introduce some friendly competition. Their campers hadn’t forgotten about the race on day one, and they tried to come up with any kind of way for their counsellors to compete again. 

On the fifth day, the day after the pathway incident, they’d made Casey and Izzie compete against each other in basketball. 

The campgrounds, being Clayton, had courts and equipment for a variety of sports. Casey had won the basketball game handily, hardly breaking a sweat.

“So much for Competitive Mode Izzie,” she’d chirped, just as she’d jumped for her final shot. The ball swooshed into the net easily. “Nothin’ but net, baby.”

Izzie had huffed and shoved her sweaty hand in Casey’s face as payback. She’d had to pull it back quickly though when Casey stuck out her tongue to lick it. 

“You’re so gross, Newton,” Izzie had told her, trying to sound disgusted but unable to cover her laughter.

“But you like me anyway,” Casey had replied confidently.

On the seventh day, Izzie struck back.

“Lawn bowling, are you kidding me?” Casey had cried out. “What is this place, a home for the elderly?”

“Doesn’t matter, Newton. You think you can say no to that-” Izzie had pointed over at their group of girls, all of whom were begging for Casey and Izzie to face off again.

Casey let out an exaggerated groan before grabbing her set of balls.

“This is ridiculous,” she complained.

“You’re just whining because it’s not something you’re already good at,” Izzie shot back with a grin.

“For your information, I’m good at everything.”

Except lawn bowling, it had turned out, and just like that Izzie was back in the competition.

Three days later, with the sun beating down on them, their girls had begged for them to race each other again. 

They were on the shore of the lake and most of the girls were swimming. Casey and Izzie were in their Clayton tank tops and each wore athletics shorts. Casey hadn’t wanted to swim. She had assumed that the same went for Izzie.

At the request to race, Casey and Izzie traded apprehensive glances. It was way too hot for running. 

“Uh, girls, you know we’d love to-” Izzie started.

“-but it’s really fu-” Casey caught herself before she dropped the f-bomb. “Uh, I mean, really freakin’ hot out.” Izzie, standing next to her, had nodded sagely.

“Then race in the water!” one of the girls, Francesca, had shouted. 

The other girls liked that idea and started up another one of their typical chants. 

“Swim race! Swim race!”

Casey had let out a sigh and turned to tell Izzie that it was her turn to handle this problem. Instead, all that came out was a strangled yelp of surprise as she saw that Izzie had already stripped off her tank top and was kicking off her shorts. Apparently, she’d been prepared. She was wearing a black swimsuit underneath her clothes.

“Come on, Newton!” she was saying, “Aren’t you going to race me?”

“I didn’t- I’m not- uh…,” Casey gestured helplessly at her outfit.

“I’ve only known you a short time, but I know for sure you’ve got a sports bra on under there,” Izzie had teased her. “Come on, or I win by default!”

That was how, a few moments later, Casey had found herself splashing around in the lake in her sports bra and shorts. She was too competitive for her own good, but she’d had to admit - the water felt really good given the heat of the day.

One look at Izzie in the water, though, and Casey knew she was going to get her ass handed to her. 

Casey had never been big into swimming, and while Izzie swore she was mainly a runner, it was pretty clear she’d spent her fair share of time in a pool. Before their race had even started she had begun doing the front crawl and breaststroke just for fun.

_And probably to show off,_ Casey had thought. _She looks like she belongs at the Olympics. Or in a magazine._

The second part of her train of thought caught her off guard, but she shrugged it away. Izzie was gorgeous, she’d already known that. It should’ve been no surprise that the rest of her body would be too. 

_You know what, I’m just going to stop thinking about this_.

Casey put all thoughts of Izzie out of her mind and tried to focus on the race.

It didn’t matter. She still got her ass kicked. For some reason though, she didn’t seem to mind as she watched Izzie do some dorky victory dance before toweling off. 

Casey was stuck in her drenched clothes, though, and eventually that pleasant feeling wore off as she grew increasingly uncomfortable. She finally caved, and Izzie laughed loudly when Casey told her she had to go back to the dorm to change. 

And so it had continued. The next week had passed by much in the same way, and before long they were nearing the end of their third week into the summer. 

It happened that the end of that week brought them their first bad storm of the season.

The day’s outdoor activities were cancelled or moved indoors, and most of the campers were holed up in their dorms right after dinner. No one wanted to brave the raging downpour if they didn’t have to. 

The Flying Squirrels, however, were not about to let a little rainy weather get in their way, and had begged their counsellors to let them do more activities before the end of the day. Casey and Izzie had grown to love their girls so much at that point that they’d had a hard time saying no, although they drew the line at going outdoors.

Instead, the two counsellors had spent almost two hours in their troupe’s dorm room, playing games and telling stories. By the time they finally said goodnight - which took a while considering that all the girls were begging them to stay - it was a little after 9 o’clock.

Casey shot Sam a quick text explaining that she couldn’t talk that night. Between staying late with her campers and having to brave the downpour eventually, she figured she could postpone their phone call until the next day. One night off from sibling duties wouldn’t kill anyone.

The storm clouds above them had made most of the day feel like nighttime, and it was no different when Casey and Izzie left the campers’ dorm. The rain was coming down hard and the two girls tried to run back to their dorm as best they could without getting completely soaked, to no avail.

Izzie and Casey burst through the front door, drenched and dripping puddles across the floor of their dorm. They didn’t pause to see if Penelope or Quinn were around, instead both trying their best to dash up the stairs without spraying water all over the house.

Ten minutes, several towels, and a change of clothes later, both girls were dry, but not very warm. They stood in their bedroom chattering their teeth, trying to will themselves to get warmer without doing much of anything to get there.

Casey had an idea.

“Hey, wanna watch a movie? We could get some blankets or something to warm up.”

“Sure,” Izzie replied, “I’ve got a laptop we can use and we can just watch in here.”

“Perfect.”

Izzie dug her laptop out of her backpack and climbed into Casey’s bed. 

Casey blinked at her. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m getting ready to watch a movie.”

“That’s my bed.”

“Yeah, and this is my laptop. It’s called teamwork,” Izzie said, as if it were obvious.

“Oh, of course, my mistake,” Casey replied, acting as though it made total sense. “Well, move over then.”

Casey climbed over top of Izzie’s legs and settled herself down on the side of the bed next to the wall. Izzie moved over a little, but the beds weren’t intended for sharing. They pulled the blankets over top of them, sides pressed together, shoulders knocking. Once they were propped up and ready to go Izzie put the laptop down in front of them. 

“So, what movie do you wanna watch?”

They ended up watching some cheesy romcom. The guy got the girl, the girl got the guy, or something. Neither of them had really paid much attention to the plot. They’d talked almost the whole way through, until the last bit of it when Izzie had fallen asleep on Casey’s shoulder. The rain still hadn’t let up by then, although the room had gotten considerably darker under the stormy night-time sky.

The credits were rolling on the screen and Casey was wondering how she should go about waking up Izzie. Outside the window she heard the storm pick up, thunder sounding nearby.

“Izzie… Iz, come on,” Casey whispered, poking at her co-counsellor. 

Izzie grumbled in her sleep and tucked her chin under the covers. It looked to Casey like she was pouting.

“Izzie, come on,” she tried again, more forcefully.

It worked, and Izzie opened her eyes lazily. Then, remembering where she was, she sat up in a rush.

“Oh shit! Did I fall asleep during the movie?”

Casey poked her again. “Quinn was right, you snore like a train.”

“Ugh, shut up,” Izzie groaned, pulling the covers off and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. 

Just then, lightning flashed outside the window and thunder cracked loudly overhead. Izzie flinched, swearing under her breath. Casey watched as she squeezed her eyes shut for a few moments, one fist clenched in the blankets.

“You okay?”

Izzie nodded distractedly. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I just don’t like storms.”

When she caught Casey looking at her curiously, she sighed.

“They remind me of the first time my mom left. I was really young, and there was a storm that night like this one. It was just me and her back then. Well, hardly, but you know what I mean. And I was so little, you know..."

As Izzie bit at her lip, Casey wondered what she should say. She really didn’t know how to respond to the confession so she said the only thing she could think of.

“Come here.”

Izzie met Casey’s gaze hesitantly. There was a hint of a question in her eyes, something she thought about saying but let pass instead.

“You don’t have to do this,” she mumbled. “I can sleep on my own. I’m a big girl, you know,” she said jokingly, but her voice sounded weak in the darkness of the bedroom.

“Not too big, I hope, or else you won’t fit in here with me,” Casey quipped, giving Izzie a reassuring smile. 

The look Izzie gave her in return was not unlike the one she’d given her in the kitchen, the night after their run-in on the pathway: it was grateful and vulnerable and sincere. She crawled back into the bed.

“Casey?” she whispered a few moments later.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t tell the others.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Casey replied as she pulled the blankets back over top of them.

Once they were tucked in she felt Izzie relax beside her, even as thunder rumbled above them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, i hope you folks enjoyed the fluff before the angst. the calm before the storm, as it were.
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by tweed jackets


	5. Complications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was feelin very blessed by everyones positive responses to this fic and so i am gifting y'all with a bit of an early update
> 
> ...although im not sure you'll be too happy about it >:)

Thunder echoed faintly in the distance. The worst of the storm had passed earlier in the night; only the sound of the falling rain remained. Izzie breathed deeply and Casey sighed in relief.

Izzie’s snoring had been waking her up intermittently all night. Casey had thought about hitting her with a pillow and, once or twice, she kind of had. Light taps. Nothing aggressive, of course.

She’d tried gentle shoves and slight kicks. Nothing seemed to work and Izzie always began snoring again shortly afterwards. Until now.

Casey stared at the ceiling, enjoying the peace and quiet, willing herself to fall back asleep. Just as she was about to shut her eyes, a light lit up the bedroom.

Her phone.

It was on her bedside table. Of course, Izzie lay between her and that table. Casey knew she should just ignore it, but a tiny, worrisome voice in the back of her head told her that it could be something important. It was late, and someone would only be texting her at that hour for a good reason. The light faded as her phone screen went black again.

_Just ignore it_. 

The room lit up. Casey sighed.

She propped herself up and gingerly reached over Izzie’s sleeping form, fumbling for her phone. She only succeeded in nudging it further away. 

Huffing silently in frustration, she put more weight on the arm propping her up and reached more over Izzie, bringing her chest above the sleeping girl. Casey tried not to exhale right in her face, nervous about waking her up. 

Izzie stirred beneath her. 

“Mm... Newton?”

She didn’t seem to wake up; not fully. She just turned a little onto her back, bringing her chest beneath Casey’s. Casey hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until she felt a burning in her lungs. Finally, she snatched her phone and began to retreat from her position of hovering over Izzie. 

Before she could fully move over, though, Izzie stirred again. She brought a hand up sleepily, as if she could feel Casey above her but didn’t understand why. She reached out, eyes still closed, until her fingers met the hem of Casey’s shirt.

Casey froze. She felt her heart hammering in her chest. Izzie hummed, curling her fingers around the material, fingertips brushing along Casey’s skin. Casey couldn’t help the sharp breath she sucked in at the feeling of it.

If Casey were gasoline, Izzie’s touch was a lit match.

“Go back to sleep” Izzie mumbled. 

Casey wasn’t even sure if the other girl knew what she was doing. She’d moved so delicately, probably still half asleep. 

Casey had felt it though. Izzie’s fingers were gentle, and Casey wondered, briefly, if her touch had always been so soft.

The light of another text message, shining through the spaces between her fingers, snapped her out of her thoughts. She blinked a couple times before hurriedly, but quietly, rolling away from Izzie. She checked her phone.

**Evan [2:48 am]:** Hey, so I haven’t heard from you in a while. How’s camp?

**Evan [2:50 am]:** How are things with 👿?

**Evan [2:53 am]:** I guess you’re probably sleeping

Casey swore under her breath and unlocked her phone. She opened her conversation with Evan and felt her heart sink.

She hadn’t replied to his messages in almost a week. He had texted her every once in a while to see how things were going, and she always meant to reply. She always _read_ the texts. She thought she’d replied, too.

But the evidence was there, damning her. She scrolled up the conversation to the last time she’d texted him. She reread her message. It sounded distant and distracted, even to her.

Guilt pooled in her stomach, thick like tar.

**Casey [2:57 am]:** Evan I’m SO sorry. Things have been really busy here, Izzie and I are swamped every day with the girls. I’m really sorry I didn’t reply sooner.

She hit send. Three grey dots appeared almost immediately.

**Evan [2:57 am]:** You call Sam every day.

**Casey [2:58 am]:** That’s Sam, you know it’s different with him.

She hit send, and immediately wished she could take it back. It _was_ different with Sam, but that was no excuse. Evan was her boyfriend. And he didn’t ask for phone calls every day, he asked for text messages once in a while just to stay in touch.

Several minutes later, he still hadn’t replied.

**Casey [3:02 am]:** I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. I’ll call you tomorrow, ok? We can catch up and you can fill me in on what you’ve been up to. I’ll call you first thing in the morning.

She hit send. She waited.

**Evan [3:03 am]:** Don’t bother, I’m working tomorrow. Or, in 5 hours actually.

**Evan [3:03 am]:** I have to sleep now. Goodnight Casey.

The sick feeling in Casey’s stomach only grew worse. Evan hadn’t had a job at the beginning of the summer, which meant he’d only started it in the past few weeks. Which in turn meant that he hadn’t mentioned it to her, his own girlfriend.

Or, he had. And Casey had forgotten. 

She wasn’t sure which possibility was worse. 

She stuffed her phone under her pillow, rolled towards the wall, and tried to force herself back to sleep.

* * *

Evan was ignoring her.

It had been two days since their late night texts and Casey felt like she was slowly going insane. One minute she was angry at him for refusing to text her back or answer her calls. The next, she was guilty and upset because it was her fault that they were even in the mess that they were in.

She tried to tell herself it wasn’t even that big of a mess.

Every hour that went by without hearing from him, though, made it feel worse, and worse, and worse. It had affected her counselling over the past two days, making her snippy and short-tempered with the campers. Izzie had tried to buffer as best she could, but even she was getting worn down by Casey’s sour mood. 

The weather wasn’t helping anything either. It hadn’t rained since the storm but the clouds had stayed put, making the past several days a gloomy bunch. 

That night, Casey was rambling about Evan to her dorm mates yet again, much to their annoyance. It was a little past 9 pm and she’d already had her call with Sam. She’d made it quick, since she hadn’t had the patience for his long stories that night.

“It’s just a mess that’s getting bigger, you know?” she said to no one in particular, despite her three roommates and Nate being seated in the living room of their dorm. “Like… at first, all it needed was a paper towel to clean up, then a mop, but now it’s like oil-spill-in-the-Gulf-of-Mexico levels of bad.”

“Casey, girl, I think you need to chill,” Quinn said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. 

Penelope nodded. Izzie, strangely, didn’t seem to be paying much attention, looking distractedly at her nails. Nate was looking at something on his phone.

“What I need,” Casey replied, raising her voice, “is for my man-baby of a boyfriend to call me back!”

Hearing the outrage in her voice, Izzie looked up at her. Her face was blank, but Casey thought she saw sympathy in her eyes. She didn’t understand why Izzie wasn’t being more supportive. If she needed anything, in that moment, aside from Evan, it was comfort from Izzie. 

Yet Izzie had been oddly reserved since their night sharing the bed. Casey thought maybe she regretted telling her about her fear of storms, but it seemed unlike Izzie to be self-conscious of that. At least, to be self-conscious of that around her.

Still, Izzie didn’t enjoy seeing Casey all torn up, and so she offered a temporary solution.

“Why don’t we go watch a movie to take your mind off things?”

The mention of a movie gave Casey involuntary flashbacks to the night of the storm: Izzie’s vulnerability, Izzie’s snoring, Izzie’s fingertips tracing her skin. 

And then Evan’s texts, Evan’s dismissiveness, Evan’s refusal to talk to her since.

It was emotional whiplash and Casey’s heart was tired of the exercise.

Izzie seemed to sense that something about her suggestion had put Casey on edge because her next words were directed at the entire group.

“Why don’t we all go to the movie room in the mess hall? They’ve got big couches there, with the projector screen and the popcorn maker. Sounds good, right?”

Quinn and Penelope traded looks before looking first to Izzie, then to Casey.

“Look, normally we would. But we just need a break, if that’s okay? You two are a lot to keep up with on a regular day. Now, with Casey all mopey-” Penelope winced as Casey shot her a death glare “-I just mean-”

“She just means that it’s draining for us too,” Quinn continued. “We’re not even halfway done the summer yet. If we wanna leave Clayton as friends, we need to have space sometimes too.”

Casey knew it made sense, and it was a fair sentiment given she’d been complaining about Evan for the past two days. Izzie was still looking at her expectantly, though, and it _would_ be good to take her mind off things.

“If you’re still up for it, it sounds good to me,” Casey told her. “Let’s head over there.”

“Oh, I’ll come too,” Nate spoke up. “I love movies.”

Izzie shot him a look. “Ok, that was like the weirdest way to include yourself in our plans. Who just says ‘I love movies’ like that.”

Nate either wasn’t listening or pretended not to hear as he stood up from his spot on the couch.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said.

Casey looked over at Izzie, who wore a look of extreme annoyance on her face. Nevertheless, she got up as well and Casey took it as a sign that the movie night was a go. She wasn’t sure how she felt about being third-wheel to Izzie and Nate’s weird dynamic, but she didn’t think she was in a place to start whining about it.

When they got to the movie room they settled onto one of the big comfy couches near the screen. Izzie had led the way so she sat down first near one of the arms of the couch. Casey had been about to sit next to her, but Izzie had reached up and grabbed Nate’s hand, pulling him down beside her instead.

“What the hell?” Casey muttered.

She knew Izzie had heard it from the way she glanced up at her. But she didn’t open her mouth to explain and Nate seemed none the wiser. So Casey resigned herself to the spot on the other side of Nate.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” he said, clapping his hands together eagerly.

They put a movie on, some adventure show that was supposed to take Casey’s mind off of all things boy-related. It didn’t, though, and Casey found herself struggling to focus on the story. To make matters worse, Izzie fell asleep halfway through and Nate said he’d already seen it. So in reality, no one was paying much attention at all. 

The movie ended sometime later, and Casey glanced over to peek at Izzie’s sleeping form on the couch. Nate seemed in no rush to wake her up and Casey briefly wondered if he was the type of boyfriend to try carrying her back to the house. She almost laughed out loud at the thought because if she’d learned anything about Nate in the past few weeks, it was that he clearly didn’t care for Izzie in the way that Casey thought he should.

She hadn’t spent a ton of time with Nate, but they’d hung out every once in a while. After the first night at the bonfire, it had become clear that Nate’s main concern was projecting a ‘good guy’ persona to everyone he met when in reality he was just a douchebag. Casey had picked up in it relatively quickly.

What she didn’t understand was why Izzie was dating him. Surely she saw him for what he was as well. And she could do so much better than Nate; she was kind and caring and funny and totally out of his league, in Casey’s opinion. 

Izzie deserved someone who would carry her home when she fell asleep at movies. Was that really too much to ask? 

Casey wouldn’t think twice about carrying Izzie home.

That was what good friends were supposed to do.

Casey was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of movement on the couch. She looked over and saw Nate sliding closer to her. He smiled at her.

“Hey.”

“Uh... hey,” Casey answered hesitantly.

“I just wanted to say that if you need anything, and I mean, _anything_ -” he leaned over and put his hand lightly on her thigh “-I’m here for you.”

Casey tried to flinch back but she was pinned between Nate and the arm of the couch.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Come on, Casey. I’m just saying, if you need anything, I’d be there for you.” 

He started moving his hand higher along her thigh, pressing harder.

Casey jumped up, pushing down nausea and focusing on her anger instead.

“What the hell are you doing, Nate?” she whispered angrily. Even after everything she still didn’t want to wake Izzie. “Your girlfriend is _right there_.”

“Relax Casey, it’s just a bit of fooling around. It’ll make you feel better, you know. Take your mind off things,” he smirked, standing up from the couch. “Besides, I don’t hear you telling me to stop.”

Casey backed away. “Oh, was I not clear? This is me telling you to stop,” she spat.

Still, Nate didn’t get the message.

“Casey, don’t take it so seriously, okay? Just, here, shh-“ he took another step towards her, arms outreached as if to hug her, or grab her more likely, and she realized in that moment that words were simply not going to work. 

“I said fucking ‘ _stop_ ’,” Casey growled, and punched him square in the nose.

Nate cried out in pain and staggered back, blood gushing instantly from his nose. He looked up at Casey, eyes screaming ‘murder’, a vein in his neck bulging. 

“ _Bitch_ ,” he swore at her, clenching one fist as he brought his other hand to his nose. “You broke it!”

“Good!” Casey shouted.

“What the hell is going on?”

Both Casey and Nate turned at the sound of Izzie’s voice. The other girl was standing up from the couch. Casey figured the sound of her fist connecting with Nate’s face had probably startled her awake.

Before Casey could even open her mouth, Nate started spewing lies.

“Casey came onto me,” he started, and Casey hated the way he tried to sound weak and pissed off at the same time. “She started trying to climb all over me saying shit like ‘don’t worry, Izzie’s asleep’. I told her ‘no way’ but she wouldn’t listen. She said she wanted something to take her mind off of Evan. So I shoved her off of me ‘cause I didn’t want any part of that, and she punched me in the face for rejecting her!”

Casey let out a loud scoff. “Are you serious right now?”

There was no way Izzie was going to believe such bullshit. She knew her better than that.

Didn’t she?

Her confidence died as she watched Izzie survey the two of them, then walk over to Nate and take his arm.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” she said softly, refusing to meet Casey’s gaze.

“Izzie, you know I would never do something like that,” Casey said, barely able to keep her voice from breaking into a shout. “He was coming on to me! He tried to-” Casey couldn’t continue, the full impact of what was happening, what had almost happened, crashing into her. 

Izzie met Casey’s gaze then. She looked… Casey didn’t know. Confused? Sad?

Casey couldn’t figure it out. Couldn’t believe what was happening. She stood dumbfounded as Izzie shook her head before leading Nate out of the movie room.

_Say something! Do something!_

Her brain was screaming at her but she was frozen in place. It was just too impossible to her that Izzie would take Nate’s side. Nate, who was a disrespectful asshole, whose entire story had been such an obvious lie. Izzie wouldn’t believe that story. She couldn’t.

But then why was Casey the one left standing alone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you flay me for this situation i've created, pls know i'm a dramatic ho who lives for the angst of it all
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by milkshakes (it was a bop!)


	6. Action/Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when i said they wouldn't be enemies for long? good times
> 
> (sorry to anyone who got confused, i fucked up and posted this chapter and then deleted it but its back for good now!)

It was late, almost midnight, when Casey finally returned to the dorm. But not too late, apparently, for Penelope and Quinn. Casey saw the kitchen lights on through the front window as she walked dejectedly up the front steps. Her entire body felt like it was made of lead. She was tired; exhausted emotionally, physically, and mentally. 

She was staring at her feet, feeling numb, as she opened the front door. She heard one of the girls gasp in surprise, and someone rushed towards her, enveloping her in a hug.

“Casey! We were starting to worry!” Quinn told her, walking over from where she’d been seated at the kitchen table.

“Where have you been? We figured you would’ve been back, like, an hour ago!” Penelope said as she let go of Casey. Casey hadn’t even realized she’d been the one to hug her. A small part of her had foolishly hoped it was Izzie.

It was at that moment that Penelope noticed that Casey was alone.

“Hey, where’s Izzie?”

In spite of her exhaustion, Casey’s head shot up. “She’s not here?”

“No… Newton, what happened?” Quinn asked.

Casey didn’t speak, but neither girl pressured her. They seemed to realize she wouldn’t be offering up details anytime soon. Their brief silence was broken by the sound of someone’s phone going off. 

“That’s me-” Penelope pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Oh, speak of the devil, it’s a text from Izzie. She says she’s over at Nate’s and not to wait up and- Casey, are you ok?”

Casey shook her head, unable to speak. She hadn’t realized that she’d started crying. The tears had just started whether she’d wanted them to or not. On top of that, she was fighting off another wave of nausea. The thought of Izzie with Nate, after what had happened, was making her want to throw up.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” Quinn offered.

Casey staggered back, her brain replaying the image of Izzie walking Nate out of the movie room, his hand to his bloody nose.

_“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”_

She let out a shaky breath before burying her face in her hands. Quinn and Penelope traded concerned looks before each moving to Casey’s side and guiding her through the house.

When they made it to her bedroom door, Casey shrugged them off. She thanked both girls for being there for her but told them that what she really needed at that moment was sleep. Quinn and Penelope nodded understandingly, looking maybe a little relieved as well. They left Casey alone and retreated back downstairs.

Casey got herself changed and cleaned up. She climbed into bed, settled her breathing, and tried not to think about what had happened.

Except that it was all she could think about. She didn’t understand at all. And not understanding it made her angry beyond belief. She clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth as the minutes ticked by. First Evan, now this.

The only thing she could settle on was that what had happened was unfair, and shitty, and she would be damned if she was going to be made to feel like the bad guy over it. She wasn’t about to beg for anyone’s forgiveness either, not when she hadn’t done anything wrong. If Izzie wanted to stay with Nate, that was her own choice to make. Casey didn’t owe her anything.

The easiest way to cope with betrayal, Casey figured, was not to let yourself get close to the betrayer again. To put up walls and keep people out. That was exactly what she resolved to do as she lay in her bed, fuming. 

Sometime later her exhaustion caught up with her, and she fell into a restless kind of sleep.

Not long afterwards, Izzie snuck into the bedroom. She’d returned from Nate’s dorm to find everyone in bed. She didn’t blame them, it was almost one in the morning.

Now, if Casey had been awake, she might’ve noticed how red Izzie’s eyes were from crying. She might’ve seen the faint longing in the way Izzie glanced at her as she crept around the room. She might’ve heard the softness in the way Izzie breathed her name when she passed by her bed, her voice somehow concerned and relieved at the same time.

She might’ve, but instead, she was sound asleep. 

* * *

The fact that she and Evan were back on speaking terms should’ve been good news.

The morning after the Nate incident, Evan texted Casey saying that he was sorry for being distant and that they should try to talk sometime soon. Casey had excitedly replied that she would be happy to call him whenever before dropping her phone against her chest and relaxing back into her bed.

It wasn’t enough, though, to distract her from what had happened with Izzie the night before. The warm, fuzzy feeling of texting Evan faded, replaced by a growing feeling of anger.

She rolled over towards the middle of the room and was surprised to find Izzie awake, laying in her own bed, staring at her.

“Was that Evan?” she asked, so softly that Casey almost didn’t hear it.

The softness was almost enough to lure Casey out of her anger, but she dug her heels in.

“Like you care.” 

She threw the blankets off herself and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Izzie flinched at Casey’s tone but otherwise didn’t say anything.

“So, how was your night with Nate?” Casey spat as she stood up from the bed.

She knew she shouldn’t have asked, shouldn’t have even brought it up, but she couldn’t stop herself. 

“Don’t,” Izzie sighed. 

To Casey’s surprise, Izzie wasn’t angry. She didn’t seem to have any fight in her at all.

“I can’t believe you left me there, after what he tried to do!”

“He said-”

“I _know_ what he said!” Casey shouted. “I was there, remember? Or did you even notice me? Was all you could worry about your asshole of a boyfriend!”

“He’s not-”

“I thought we were becoming really good friends,” Casey cut her off. “I thought we had a good thing going-” she shook her head and huffed in exasperation, “-I can’t do this with you right now.”

She stormed out of the room.

The rest of the day continued in much the same way, with the added challenge of trying not to let the fight between them impact their counselling. Casey thought she was doing a good job of pretending like everything was fine between her and Izzie, but every time she caught a look at Izzie’s face, she saw her own discomfort reflected back at her. 

Still, somehow they didn’t do a completely horrible job. Their Flying Squirrels still tried to find a new way to make them compete against each other that afternoon. 

Camp Clayton had so many activities, Casey guessed that the imaginative little campers would probably find a million ways for her and Izzie to compete if they were allowed.

That day it was tennis. And Casey was in no mood for it. 

Perhaps predictably, that made her so much worse at it. They were playing to the best of three sets, their campers watching excitedly a little ways off from the court. Izzie had won the first set easily, although she hadn’t looked very happy about it. She hadn’t looked happy about anything all day.

 _Yeah, well neither have I,_ Casey thought as she wound up to serve the second set. 

She hit the ball directly into the net. She growled, stalking over to retrieve the ball before setting up again. She tried to focus, but unbidden images of Izzie and Nate flashed in her mind, and she served directly into the netting again.

“This is a waste of time,” she said, lowering her voice so that only Izzie could hear. 

She was upset, but she didn’t want to risk offending the Flying Squirrels, who still adored their counsellors despite the weird tension of the day.

“You’re welcome to tell them that,” Izzie replied flatly, picking up the ball that Casey had refused to retrieve and turning back to her side of the court.

Casey huffed but otherwise didn’t press the matter. She knew that, despite the horrible feeling she had just by being near Izzie, she would have to set it aside for the sake of the troupe.

_And summer isn’t even halfway over._

Izzie served and Casey returned, but she hit too hard and sent the ball beyond the line and into the chain-link fence that surrounded the courts. She clenched her jaw in frustration, trying to ignore the way her campers laughed at her obvious lack of skills.

 _They’re just kids,_ she reminded herself. _And they’ve laughed at you before. Don’t take it out on them._

Izzie beat her easily in the second set and the girls pronounced her the winner. Neither counsellor seemed to be paying attention, though, between Casey’s fuming anger and Izzie’s flat stares.

 _Maybe it’ll blow over,_ Casey thought to herself, weakly. _Maybe Izzie will come to her senses and apologize to me and we can go back to being friends._

It was a nice thought, in the moment, but Casey knew it couldn’t happen that way. She was too upset about Izzie’s betrayal, and Izzie didn’t seem too keen on fixing things either.

Things did not get better over the next several days. If anything, they only got worse.

Whereas on that first day Izzie had been reserved and uncomfortable, the more time that passed only seemed to make her more bitter and resentful. She never asked Casey about what happened with Nate, which meant that Casey assumed Izzie still believed his story over hers. 

Izzie had stopped talking to her unless it was absolutely necessary for their counselling. She avoided her at all costs whenever they weren’t with their campers, even going so far as to start sleeping on the couch at the dorm.

At first, Casey was oddly relieved. Her own anger and frustration towards Izzie made it so that she didn't mind that the other girl was giving her space. But after a few days had passed, she started to feel insecure, and the insecurity made her increasingly annoyed.

What right did Izzie have to be the one ignoring her when she hadn’t done anything wrong? And even if Izzie did think she’d done something wrong, why wouldn’t she just confront her about it?

Their fighting made the days pass in a gruesome kind of slowness. It was like they were living through a car crash in slow motion, watching their friendship crumble and burn around them.

 _I guess it was nice while it lasted,_ Casey would tell herself, trying to pretend that she didn’t care anymore. Trying to act like losing Izzie wasn’t slowly breaking her heart every single day. In the moments when she started to feel sad, she’d remember Izzie and Nate in the movie room, and she would let her anger wash over her, even though she knew, in reality, it was a poor excuse for an antidote.

She thought talking with Evan would help her feel better, but it didn’t seem to do as much as she’d hoped it would. Evan was distant, still frustrated about her lack of communication earlier in the summer. There was a strange tension between them and Casey couldn’t figure out if it was because of his annoyance with her or because of her anger towards Izzie. He’d been especially uncomfortable when she’d told him what had happened.

“You’re telling me this guy, this Nate guy, tried to... I dunno, kiss you?”

“Yes!” Casey had shouted into the phone. “With Izzie in the room, _asleep_ , right next to us.”

There had been a long pause, followed by, “What would make him think he could get away with that?”

Casey hadn’t noticed the shift in Evan’s tone. “Right?! Who does something like that.”

“You didn’t… I dunno…,” Evan had hesitated. “You didn’t, like, lead him on, did you?”

Casey’s jaw had dropped in shock at her boyfriend’s words. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“No, Evan, no! Of course not.”

“Ok, ok. It’s just… I’m not there, you know, so it’s hard to-”

Casey had hung up in frustration. Evan was supposed to have her back, he wasn’t supposed to doubt her like Izzie had.

And that was the heart of it. All things came back to Izzie, and Casey supposed that didn’t help her relationship much either. Once she and Evan had made up, she found herself complaining to him about it all the time, trying to dissect things and find meaning in the way she and Izzie had fallen apart. Evan, already exasperated by the distance and the Nate situation, found her constant analysis of Izzie to be particularly draining.

“So what?” he’d asked her one evening over the phone. “You didn’t like her to begin with, it’s not like it’s a huge loss.”

It had felt like a punch to the stomach. It wasn’t that Evan was wrong or right, but more that his words had made the situation seem so much more real. 

Casey’s anger started wearing off by the fourth day, replaced by a growing sense of loneliness. She’d wake up in the morning and check to see if Izzie was in her bed; she never was. Then she’d get up, get dressed, and head downstairs. 

Penelope and Quinn had tried to take the fighting in stride, choosing not to get involved but not let things deteriorate any worse. But they couldn’t even act as buffers between the two girls: if Casey entered a room, Izzie would leave, and vice versa. Penelope and Quinn just did their best to keep the peace and stay neutral, and otherwise they stayed out of the way.

Casey and Izzie would walk over to their campers’ dorm in silence. They’d play pretend at being friends as they corralled their campers to the mess hall for breakfast. They’d eat in silence, or else distract themselves by chatting with their troupe instead of each other. Then they’d carry out their activities and responsibilities for the day, interacting as little as possible while still maintaining the appearance of positive attitudes and friendship for their girls.

It was a far cry from the fleeting, early days of the summer when they’d been a real team. Now they were just two strangers trying to fake it.

And then one night, to Casey’s surprise, Izzie became tired of faking it.

Casey was running on the pathway around the lake, pushing herself to her limits. She’d already completed one lap of the campgrounds but she wasn’t yet ready to stop. She wanted the feeling of sore muscles and straining lungs and the reverberating comfort of her feet hitting the ground over and over again.

It was pretty much the only coping mechanism she had at Clayton, and she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to exploit it for all it was worth.

The sun had set sometime around the end of her first lap. It was already dark within the trees along the pathway. The forest was like a blanket, or a cocoon, and she hoped it would shelter her from the growing ache in her heart. An ache that had nothing to do with running. 

She kept pushing herself harder, and eventually she came around the final bend of the pathway on the lake. She tried to ignore the memory of running into Izzie, of the night when they’d actually started to become friends. 

She wasn’t sure how someone had come to mean so much to her in such a short time. The hole in her heart was enormous.

She ran past the spot of their near collision, the trees beginning to thin around her. She was sweaty, exhaustion was creeping in, and she tried to look forward to the hot shower she’d have back at the dorm.

A voice from behind her interrupted her thoughts.

“I swear I'm not stalking you, I just figured I’d find you here.”

She stopped running and whipped around. Izzie was approaching her from the side of the pathway - Casey had run right past her without even noticing. Of course, it hadn't helped that Izzie had apparently been hiding within the cover of the trees... waiting for her? Casey didn't bother to stop and think about how that made her feel.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

At least, she tried to sound demanding, but she was out of breath from her run. It came out as a gasp more than anything.

“I really need to talk to you,” Izzie said, moving towards her.

“Oh, now you wanna talk?” Casey shot at her. To her surprise, Izzie didn’t flinch away.

“Yes. I need to explain. I haven’t been fair to you-”

Casey cut her off, “No shit. After what you did that night at the movie-”

“I know.”

The sincerity in Izzie’s tone caught Casey off guard, and she looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time that night.

Izzie was giving her a pleading look, like if Casey asked her to beg she would in a heartbeat, as long as it meant she’d listen to what she had to say. She didn’t look mad or annoyed or upset, only nervous and a little hopeful.

Casey found herself unsure of what to do. She had been angry and upset and lonely for the entire week since the incident. She’d convinced herself that pushing Izzie away was the only thing to do. And now Izzie was in front of her, seeming like she was ready to make peace. Or at least talk things through.

Casey couldn’t let it go that easily, though.

“Ok,” she said flatly, “talk.”

Izzie moved a little closer, until she was standing in front of Casey. She nodded and then took a shaky breath.

“First, I owe you an apology-”

Casey opened her mouth to make a comment but thought better of it. She’d offered Izzie the chance to talk, so she would let her talk. Izzie watched her, then continued when Casey nodded for her to carry on.

“I’m sorry for making it seem like I was taking Nate’s side. I know I made you think that I didn’t believe you, but that wasn’t it. I did believe you, and I still do believe you. I know you would never do something like that-”

“Then why did you-”

Izzie held a hand up as if to silence Casey, and to her own surprise, Casey snapped her mouth shut. Izzie gave a timid smile, and Casey hurt with the effort of not returning one in kind. Maybe they could save their friendship, but it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“You’re wondering why I didn’t ditch Nate at the movie room and skip back to the dorm with you like nothing happened.” Izzie let out a heavy sigh before continuing, “I know you won’t think it’s a good reason, and, hell, over the past week I’ve had to accept that I made a huge mistake in doing it, but in the moment it was like my brain shut off and these instincts took over.”

Izzie paused, staring at her feet and composing herself before looking back up to Casey.

“It’s a shitty excuse, but Nate has been with me for a long time. I don’t tell people this often, but we were actually childhood friends. We grew up in the same neighbourhood and he was always hanging out with me. He was one of the first people I told about my mom, and I guess I’ve just had this messed up loyalty to him for so long… when I saw him with that bloody nose… and he is, well, he _was_ my boyfriend, I guess I just-”

“Wait,” Casey interrupted. “He _was_ your boyfriend?”

Izzie looked away, seeming embarrassed.

“I broke up with him.”

“When?”

“Later that night.”

Casey let the words hang in the evening air. 

A part of her felt instantly relieved. Izzie had believed her, and she’d broken up with Nate that same night. She’d never for a second thought that Casey had been trying to hook up with him. Casey felt something in her chest loosen, a vice around her heart giving way, and she felt like she could breathe for the first time in a week.

And then the meaning of Izzie’s words sunk in. Izzie hadn’t been upset about the situation with Nate at all. But she had watched Casey sink deeper into anger and misery all week long. Something that could’ve been fixed with a few simple words had festered for several terrible days; an entire miserable week. Casey felt an all too familiar feeling rise up: blind anger.

“So, let me get this straight,” she spat. “You never believed Nate, so you always knew that I’d done nothing wrong. But you still let me believe, this entire time, that I was being punished and, even worse, that I _deserved_ to be punished for something I didn’t do.”

“No, that’s not-”

There was a rushing in Casey’s ears that made her deaf to Izzie’s protests. All the loneliness and rejection and anger that she’d been feeling for the past week began to build and she felt herself losing control of her temper.

“I can’t believe you! I can’t believe you let me feel so shitty all week long when in reality everything was fine. Why didn’t you tell me that you’d broken up with Nate? Why didn’t you tell me everything was ok?”

“That's what I'm trying to explain!”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to hear it! God, you know, I thought you actually cared about me for a second there. But I guess I was just an idiot for thinking that, huh? You were so rude to me when I got here, so ready to not even bother trying to be my friend-” Casey scoffed, remembering their first few weeks of the summer. “Then you warmed up to me, made me think that this summer wouldn’t be so bad after all, and now you pull this? What the hell, Izzie, who does that?!”

“Casey." Izzie's voice was getting firmer as she became more frustrated with Casey's refusal to let her speak. “Will you please just listen to me.”

“No! I’m done listening to you," Casey declared stubbornly. "I can’t believe I thought for a second that you actually cared. I can’t believe I-”

Izzie huffed loudly, and the unexpectedness of it shocked Casey out her rant. Izzie took the opportunity to move closer, fisting one hand in the collar of Casey’s shirt and pulling hard, bringing their chests together. Then she kissed her.

Casey felt her body reacting without her direction; first, in surprise, then in reciprocation, kissing Izzie back without a second thought. She found herself thinking about the softness of Izzie's touch: her lips, her fingertips, the delicate press of her nose as it brushed against her own. 

Izzie slid her free hand up and around Casey’s neck, curling her fingers into Casey’s hair, anchoring them together. Casey had the strange feeling as though a missing piece of herself had finally shifted into place. She didn't resist as Izzie pushed them backwards, and she felt her back press up against a nearby tree.

But the roughness of the bark seemed too harsh compared to the gentle touch of the girl against her chest. It snapped her back to reality.

Casey pulled back, and for a few fleeting seconds, they were only inches apart. Then she softly pushed Izzie away.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

She didn’t trust her voice in the silence of the woods. In that moment, the entire world seemed fragile.

“Getting you to shut up,” Izzie replied, her own voice breathless from the kiss.

Casey didn’t have a response to that and so she found herself staring at the girl in front of her instead. Her eyes wandered from Izzie’s lips up to her eyes, gazing at Casey, and back to her lips again. She hadn’t even realized that she’d put her arms around Izzie’s waist. She could feel Izzie shaking slightly; she wasn’t sure if it was from nerves or the cold.

A part of her she hadn’t even known existed was basking in the moment. It was happy, triumphant, and giddy with excitement. That part of her wanted to keep holding Izzie and never let go and maybe kiss her once more for good measure.

Another part of her, though, knew better. That part was more logical, more sensible, more responsible. At least, that’s what its nagging voice kept telling her.

_You shouldn’t be enjoying this. You can’t enjoy this._

_You have a boyfriend._

Casey squeezed her eyes shut and let her arms drop from Izzie’s waist. She started shaking her head before she opened her eyes again, and saw Izzie staring at her, biting her lip with worry.

“Casey?”

Too soft. She was too soft. It made Casey want to kiss her again.

“I- I don’t-” Casey stammered, hardly realizing that she was beginning to back away from the other girl, awkwardly angling herself onto the pathway.

She didn’t even know what she was trying to say. So many things were hitting her at that moment. She’d been so angry for days, and lonely, and sad, and then angry at Izzie again, and now Izzie had kissed her, and what did it mean that she’d liked it?

What did it mean about Evan?

Casey didn’t know what to do, so she did the only thing she could think of.

“I- I have to go,” she blurted out. 

And then she ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was sponsored by late-night running and a total disregard for the consequences of spontaneously kissing your crush


	7. Intervention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright folks i know we're all very excited about the events of the previous chapter - good things are coming and i promise it will be worth the wait
> 
> there's just a little more 'figuring out' that our girls need to do first

_I’m going to stop thinking about this,_ Casey told herself. _As soon as I get out of the shower I’m going to pretend like it never happened._

Casey knew she needed to get out of the shower. She’d been in there for nearly 20 minutes already, even though she’d long ago finished washing and rinsing off. She should dry off, get changed, and talk to Izzie. You know, like a mature adult.

Of course, nothing about her earlier reaction felt mature: running away and stranding Izzie in the woods. 

Casey tilted her head back and let the hot water splash across her face. The heat of it would make her skin red and blotchy but she didn’t care. Maybe it would cover up the flush of her embarrassment too.

Or the creeping blush she felt in her cheeks whenever she remembered Izzie kissing her. Izzie pushing her against the tree. The way she’d sounded so breathless when Casey had pulled away from her.

Still, another part of her hoped that the heat of the shower would burn away the rising shame.

That part of herself kept reminding her that kissing someone while you were in a relationship was not considered appropriate behaviour. It was cheating, wasn’t it?

_Izzie kissed me,_ she told herself. _I didn’t… I didn’t start it._

The thought was weak, though. She remembered, in vivid detail, how it had felt when Izzie’s lips met her own. It was soft and delicate. It was new and intoxicating. 

She’d kissed her back then, and she knew she would again, if given the chance.

_I’m going to stop thinking about this. As soon as I get out of the shower I’m going to pretend like it never happened._

Casey put her hand on the faucet. She sighed. 

She let the water run.

* * *

By the time Casey got out of the shower it had been almost 45 minutes, and she briefly wondered if Camp Clayton would charge her for all the extra hot water. Shaking her head to herself, she towelled off and got changed. Then she took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door.

The house was silent. She’d made up some excuse to Penelope and Quinn when she’d rushed into the dorm earlier - something about being really sweaty or really exhausted or really just needing a hot shower. She didn’t remember the details; a lot of the time from leaving Izzie in the woods to her getting in the shower was a blur. The running had been instinctual. 

_Bad instincts_ , she thought to herself.

She tiptoed into the hallway and over to the bedroom. The door was open a crack, and Casey peeked inside before entering.

Izzie was asleep in her bed, facing the wall. Casey breathed out a sigh of relief, despite the growing nervousness clawing at her stomach. She pushed the door open slightly and crept into the room.

_I can do this,_ she thought to herself as she climbed into her bed.

Laying in bed was worse, though. There was nothing to distract her from her racing thoughts. She tried facing the wall, like Izzie, but the blankness of it only made her thoughts seem louder.

She tried laying on her back, but she’d never been much of a back sleeper and the ceiling was hardly better than the wall in terms of quieting her restless mind.

So she’d rolled over to face the middle of the room. Unbeknownst to her, Izzie had rolled over at some point as well, and she now lay facing Casey’s bed. Before Casey realized what she was doing, her eyes were drawn to Izzie’s mouth, tracing the line of her lips, making her think about...

Casey squeezed her eyes shut. _This is hopeless._

She got up, crept silently to the door, and snuck out of the bedroom. She spent the rest of the night on the couch.

The next morning, Penelope and Quinn gave her odd looks when they woke up, but they’d been so used to the weirdness between Casey and Izzie for the past week that they didn’t bother mentioning it. When Izzie came down the stairs, already dressed for the day despite the obvious sleepiness in her eyes, Casey had bolted up to the bedroom as quick as possible, shutting the door behind her.

And so it continued. Whereas for the previous week Casey had been avoiding Izzie out of hurt and anger, now she was doing it out of fear and confusion. Being around Izzie only reminded her of what had happened, and she didn’t want to face it. She didn’t know _how_ to face it. 

Nevermind the gnawing guilt she felt every time she thought of Evan.

She tried to ignore the raging whirlpool of feelings as she and Izzie walked to their campers’ dorm. They didn’t talk, although Izzie looked very much like she wanted to. She kept shooting Casey nervous glances but Casey tried her best to ignore them. 

She knew what she was doing was immature, but she had no idea how to go about talking to Izzie. She couldn’t even fake a pleasant conversation. Every time she looked at her she thought of the kiss. 

That was then usually followed by some thought about Evan.

She hoped that she and Izzie could pretend to be cool around the Flying Squirrels, like they had for the week before. But that hope vanished almost immediately when they brought their campers from the dorm to the mess hall.

“Does this mean you two are friends again?” one of the girls, Alia, asked eagerly.

The other girls squealed in excitement before Casey or Izzie could even answer the question. Izzie, however, was the first one to recover.

“What makes you think we weren’t friends?”

“Oh please,” Alia replied, with all the sassiness of an 11-year-old girl. “It was obvious. You two were making angry faces at each other all week, and there was the time Casey threw that tennis ball into the woods after you beat her.”

Casey flushed, having forgotten about her less-than-savoury moment of weakness.

“I just don’t like tennis,” she mumbled, but the girls weren’t convinced.

“You two aren’t making angry faces anymore, so you must be friends again!” another girl cried out. 

“Yeah,” Alia said matter-of-factly. “Plus, we can feel that things are different between you two. My mom always says that you can tell these things just by feeling the air around a person-” she waved her arms as if to demonstrate, “-and the air around you two feels way different than last week! Less mad, more like… cute but super nervous. Like you’re friends again, but you still remember your fight so you’re being careful,” she finished, nodding sagely.

Izzie tried to laugh it off and failed miserably. “Cute but nervous, right.”

The girls took that as a confirmation that things were better between their counsellors, and the rest of the walk to the mess hall was filled with excited chattering about Casey and Izzie’s friendship being fixed and all the fun things that meant they’d get to do.

Casey felt herself blushing, and she tugged the hood of her sweater over her head in embarrassment, tightening the strings to block most of her face from view. Izzie glanced at her from the corner of her eye but otherwise didn’t comment. She had a blush of her own painted across her cheeks.

The rest of the day continued in a similar way. The Flying Squirrels were over the moon about their counsellors’ “friendship”, which resulted in extraordinarily high levels of enthusiasm and energy for the day. Casey and Izzie did their best to keep up, but they did so while maintaining as much distance between each other as possible. After all, it wasn’t like they could talk about things in front of their troupe.

And yet, when they finally returned to the dorm at the end of the day, neither of them were in a particular rush to hash things out. Casey was still confused about what felt like a million different things: 

Why had Izzie kissed her? Why had Izzie kissed her after they’d been fighting all week? Why had they been fighting when Izzie could’ve just _talked_ to her? And, back to the kiss, why hadn’t Casey stopped it-

_Because I liked it_.

-but _why_ hadn’t she said something to Izzie afterwards, instead of running away? Well, probably because she was dating Evan and kissing Izzie was wrong. Plus Izzie was a girl, and that was okay, obviously, but what did that mean about Casey? Especially because it had felt so right and she wanted to do it again. Was she gay now? Did that just happen sometimes? You had no idea and then a pretty girl kissed you and then everything changed?

She was making herself crazy just thinking about it all, and it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet. She definitely wasn’t ready to _talk_ about any of it.

And Izzie didn’t seem to be in a rush to confront her about it either. Casey knew she’d made a mistake in running away - maybe Izzie was mad at her for that? Or was Izzie mad that Casey had stopped them from kissing more? Or was she upset that Casey was still dating Evan?

_Oh shit... Evan._

She’d been avoiding his texts since the kiss. That wasn’t awful, yet, since it hadn’t even been a whole day, but she knew that their relationship was in a precarious place with everything that had happened the week before. She couldn’t ignore him forever.

She still did though, for the next two days. 

The problem was that Casey didn’t even know where to begin with that issue.

When her phone rang, the third evening after the kiss, she’d thought that somehow Evan had learned of what had happened and was calling to confront her. 

She was sitting in the kitchen, avoiding Izzie as per usual, when she got the call. She knew her co-counsellor was upstairs somewhere, making equal efforts to avoid her in turn. The two had become experts of evasion over the past few days. They couldn’t be alone together, at risk of being crushed by the giant elephant in the room, or worse, at risk of actually doing something about it.

Casey glanced at her phone nervously, but the caller ID told her that it was Sharice, a friend from home. She answered, relief heavy in her voice.

“Oh thank god it’s you,” she exhaled.

“Uh, hello to you too?” Sharice replied. “What’s wrong with you? You sound like you were expecting a call from, like, the Mafia, or… I dunno, your mom.”

Casey chuckled in response, although it quickly devolved into a nervous, forced kind of laughter followed by a heavy sigh of defeat.

“Girl, you sound unhinged,” Sharice laughed into her phone. “What’s been happening to you over there at Rich Camp?”

“It’s a long story,” Casey sighed, getting up from the table and heading towards the front door. She couldn't talk about it at the dorm so she slipped out into the cool evening air.

“Well start talking then,” Sharice told her. “And don’t be making up any excuses about not having the time. I haven’t heard from you _all summer_ and I’m cashing in those minutes right now, so spill.”

Casey wandered over to a nearby bench and settled herself down. 

“Alright, but I meant it when I said it’s a long story,” she warned, before she began retelling the events of the summer, beginning with the day she’d arrived at Clayton.

* * *

There was a long pause before Sharice’s voice finally came through the line.

“Holy. Shit.”

“Yeah,” Casey sighed. 

She hadn’t realized how exhausting it would feel to tell the entire story. Between the ups and downs with Izzie and the problems with the boys, Casey felt like every time she got the hang of things, someone pulled the rug out from under her feet.

“You kissed a girl.” 

“She kissed me!” Casey cried before glancing around nervously as she realized where she was: still on the bench near her dorm.

“And you _liked it!_ ” Sharice teased her.

“Oh my god,” Casey groaned. “Shouldn’t you be taking this a little more seriously?”

“Oh no. Nuh uh,” Sharice tsked at her. “You’re serious enough right now for a damn funeral. I don’t need to add to it.”

“Hey!” Casey shouted indignantly, but she couldn’t help the way she started grinning into her phone. Sharice laughed on the other end, and for a moment things felt a little lighter.

“So, what’re you gonna do?” Sharice asked, and Casey’s smile fell a little.

“I don’t know. I was kind of hoping you’d have some thoughts on that.”

Sharice was quiet for a few seconds before she answered, “You sure you wanna hear what I think?”

Casey felt herself getting increasingly nervous. “Yeah… Yes. Tell me.”

Sharice sighed. “Casey, I’ve known you a long time. You’re a good person. I know you don’t feel like it right now when you think about Evan, but this one thing doesn’t define you. It doesn’t make you a terrible human being, but-” there was another pause, “-that being said, girl, you _have_ to talk to him.”

Casey groaned. “I know.”

“And look,” Sharice continued, “I haven’t met this Izzie girl, and I can’t say I’m a huge fan of how she’s handled some things, but have you ever stopped to consider that maybe she’s just as confused as you? I mean-” and here Sharice finally broke, laughing at her over the phone, “-you _ran away_ from her after she kissed you! Who does that, Case?”

Casey laughed along with her, and she felt her heart warm at the familiar shortening of her name. She’d grown so used to people calling her ‘Newton’ that she’d forgotten her friends at home had other nicknames for her as well.

Her laughter faded as it was replaced by a creeping feeling of homesickness. “I’ve really missed you, Sharice.”

“Oh yeah, then why’d it take until August to hear from you!”

Casey blinked in surprise. “It’s August?”

“Yeah dude, August 2nd. What, do they not let you have calendars out there? Is it like a cult where you’re not allowed to acknowledge the passage of time?

“Shut up,” Casey replied, laughing at her friend’s absurdity. “Clayton’s kind of cool.”

“You mean aside from all the shit you just told me you’re dealing with?” Sharice teased.

“Hah… yeah, aside from that.”

“Who knew you’d have your lesbian awakening at _Rich Camp_ , of all places!”

“Okay, that’s it! I’m hanging up now!”

“You can’t see me but I’m blowing you a kiss through the phone.”

“Yahuh, goodbye,” Casey laughed, ending the call.

Sharice texted her a few moments later.

**Sharice [9:09 pm]:** Seriously tho, thanks for chatting. I miss you and life is VERY boring here without you.

**Casey [9:10 pm]:** Maybe try skydiving? I miss you too, and seriously thanks for the advice.

**Sharice [9:10 pm]:** Anytime yo. You ever think about telling your girl how you feel over a romantic picnic or something? I’m sure they got candles at Rich Camp

Casey blushed even as she hurriedly typed back.

**Casey [9:10 pm]:** Shut up.

**Casey [9:11 pm]:** She’s not my girl.

She hit send just as her phone started to ring again. Apparently, she was peaking in popularity that evening.

“Hey Sam,” she greeted as she answered the call, having seen her brother’s picture light up her screen moments before.

“Casey, how are you? How’s camp? Have you seen any of the animals I asked you to look out for?”

“Hmmm,” Casey gave an exaggerated hum followed by a long pause. “I’m fine, camp is fine, and yes I’ll have you know that I’ve seen twelve red squirrels, twenty-two gray squirrels, three flying squirrels, and one fat woodchuck.”

“You saw a woodchuck?!” Sam exclaimed. “... I don’t believe you.”

“Ah, but you’ll never be able to confirm or deny my story because I am here and you are not.”

“Ugh,” Sam huffed in frustration. “How come you get to spend the summer seeing wildlife and I’m stuck here.”

“Because I’m the better looking Gardner - camp is for sexy people only,” Casey stated, managing to keep her voice serious despite the grin on her face.

She hadn’t realized how much she needed to hear Sam’s voice until he’d called. The same went for Sharice. She hadn’t truly felt homesick until that phone call, it was true, but the voices of her friend and her brother served to put everything into perspective. Things didn’t seem so big and scary anymore, not when she remembered that it would all be over in a month.

She could leave Clayton behind and pretend that none of it had ever happened.

Her grin faded, though, and she sighed, remembering what Sharice had said about Evan. She couldn’t pretend that _none_ of it had happened. Some things couldn’t be ignored, no matter how hard she tried.

“Besides, Sam, you hate the woods,” Casey added, good mood falling away. “You never liked camping as a kid.”

“I prefer to believe that was because Mom insisted on going with all those other people,” Sam replied, sounding very much as though he’d already given the matter a lot of thought. “Those other kids were loud, and gross, and not fun to be around. I bet I would love camping now, with all the wildlife and the stars and the peace and quiet.”

“Oh yeah? What about bugs?”

“There are bugs in the city.”

“Not like the bugs in the forest,” Casey replied ominously, but her heart wasn’t up for teasing her brother anymore. There was something else she needed to do.

“Sam, I’m sorry, is it okay if we cut this phone call short tonight?”

“Yes, that’s alright. I have a date with Paige in ten minutes that I need to get ready for.”

“Your date is in _ten minutes_?!” Casey cried. “Sam, you’re gonna be late!”

“Oh no, the date is at home,” Sam explained. “After the Olive Garden incident, we thought it might be better to try doing dinner dates at our homes instead, sort of like a practice run for eventually going out for a real fancy dinner.”

“Oh,” Casey paused. “That- that actually makes a lot of sense. Good thinking Sam.”

“Oh, it was Paige’s idea.”

“Oh, well, good thinking Paige…” Casey trailed off, lost in her thoughts, before she added, “Paige has been pretty good for you, hey?”

“Yes, I think so. Although it wasn’t very easy at first. And it still isn’t. Girls are complicated.”

“Relationships are complicated.”

Sam paused, then continued. “You’re right, Casey. Relationships are complicated.”

“Sam…,” Casey began, nervously, “Do you think Evan’s been good for me?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it. He’s your boyfriend, not mine- “ Sam let out a small laugh at this “-hah… _my_ boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but like, what do you think of him? And what if… what if he wasn’t around anymore?”

“Like if he moved? I guess you’d spend a lot of time out of the house. It’d be like it is now because you’d probably always be visiting him.”

“No, Sam,” Casey sighed, wondering if it had been a mistake to ask him about it. “I mean… I mean if we broke up. If we weren’t together anymore.”

She felt a lump rising in her throat just thinking about it but she pushed through. She didn’t want to cry, especially not over the phone with her brother.

There was a short pause before Sam answered her. “That would be… sad. But okay. He’s not really a part of any of my replacement behaviours or rituals. And even though he’s helpful sometimes, I think I could easily live without him.”

Her brother had a way of making everything so simple, she thought. It was black-and-white to him, and it made her heart break and… not break, at the same time. Like things would be hard but they’d be okay, too.

“Okay, Sam. Thanks.”

“Are you breaking up?” Sam asked.

“Honestly?” Casey sighed. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I have to go now, Sam. There’s a phone call I have to make.”

“Okay,” Sam replied easily, unfazed by his sister’s emotional predicament. “I still don’t believe you about the woodchuck.”

“That’s too bad,” Casey answered, trying to keep some level of teasing in her voice. “She really was an impressive specimen.”

She hung up without saying goodbye, like she usually did with Sam. It was almost like a ritual in itself, although she wondered if Sam thought of it that way. 

She took a moment to look around; after the two phone calls it had gotten rather late into the evening, probably a little after 10 o'clock. The sun still lit up the fringes of the horizon, a brilliant pink sunset framing the top of the tree line in the distance. She sighed, admiring the beauty, dreading what she had to do next.

She looked down at her phone and brought up Evan’s contact info. She hit ‘call’ and eventually heard ringing on the other line. She waited, anxiety and apprehension tying her insides into knots.

She didn’t have to wait long.

“Hello?” Evan answered. Either he hadn’t checked the caller ID or he hadn’t really believed that it was Casey who was calling.

Casey braced herself.

“Hey, it’s me. We, uh- we need to talk...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as i was writing this chapter i realized that i am starving us all of some beautiful izzie/sam interactions so i will try to do a much better job of including it in the next cazzie fic (got some ideas in the old noggin' already)
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by the Newton Owls (GO OWLS, HOOT HOOT)


	8. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please enjoy a little bit of izzie POV sprinkled in here

“That doesn’t sound good.” Evan sounded resigned, a tiredness lacing his voice that Casey guessed had nothing to do with lack of sleep.

“It’s, uh…,” Casey stumbled over her words. She didn’t know how to do this: how to tell him everything that had happened. How to, potentially, break up.

“Things have been weird,” Evan offered.

That was so like him, Casey thought. He was generous even when he was impatient with her.

“Yeah,” she breathed out heavily. “Things have been weird.”

“Who knew summer camp could be so stressful,” he replied, and he tried to sound light and joking but Casey could tell he was struggling too.

When had their conversations become so hard?

“Yeah, who knew-” she started, then she realized that she was just repeating everything he was saying. So she grit her teeth and went for it. “I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

 _Deep breaths,_ Casey told herself. 

“Izzie… she, uh…,” Casey pressed two fingers into the space between her eyebrows, squeezing her eyes shut in concentration, or frustration, or exasperation, she didn’t really know. She wasn’t paying attention to her body much, just trying to get the words out right. 

“She kissed me.”

There was a long pause.

“When?”

“Three nights ago,” Casey answered, trying to keep her voice from breaking. It didn’t help that she couldn’t see Evan; it only made her imagine how upset he probably looked.

“Okay,” he said again, sounding so much more tired than he had moments before. Like Casey was draining him of all his energy. 

“Okay?” Casey asked in disbelief. “That’s all you have to say?”

And just like that, a switch flipped, and he snapped.

“Well, what do you want me to say, Casey?” -he wasn’t quite yelling, but he wasn’t calm either- “You said _she_ kissed you, so I guess it’s not _your_ fault! I can’t exactly be mad at you for the actions of someone else, can I?”

He sighed heavily before continuing. “God, it’s just like with that Nate guy- someone hits on you but you technically didn’t do anything wrong, so what am I supposed to do with that? How should I react?”

“No.” Casey hardly realized she was clenching her phone tighter, speaking the words like they were made of iron; hard, biting, unyielding. ”What happened with Izzie is completely different.”

“Yeah, okay, she’s a girl and he’s a guy, but Casey, a kiss is still a kiss regardless of-”

“No!” Casey found herself raising her voice. “Izzie is nothing like Nate! Izzie is strong and caring and soft…” she trailed off, realizing she was getting herself into dangerous territory.

Evan didn’t miss the shift in her tone, the way she’d softened, momentarily, as she spoke about Izzie.

“What, do you… do you like her? I thought you _hated_ her like two days ago!”

“I never hated her! It’s just complicated. It’s just- I don’t know,” Casey answered, her voice finally cracking. She didn’t know what to say, or what she even could say, but she couldn’t lie.There was something there, some feeling for Izzie.

“Jesus Casey,” Evan sighed, exasperated. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Reality hit home, then, and Casey realized that this was it. This would be the moment when she had to choose. Keep them together, tear them apart.

“What does that mean?” she asked, but she already knew.

“It’s… it’s too hard,” Evan told her, and she could tell he was close to breaking down too. “With that guy, I thought that, even though I couldn’t be there, it would be hard but it would be okay, because he was just some asshole. But Case, I can’t compete against someone who is with you every single day. Who spends every day by your side and talks with you and laughs with you and experiences all those little moments with you. I can’t compete with that.”

“Evan…”

“All that aside,” he added. “I definitely can’t compete with someone you already have feelings for.”

“I didn’t say-”

“You didn’t have to, Casey. I know you. You spent so much time talking about her, I should’ve figured it out sooner.”

 _It’s true_ , she realized.

But the realization didn’t make things any easier. If anything, it made it worse. It churned up that pool of guilt inside her, drowning her in it.

“I’m sorry.” She said it urgently, pleadingly, and she couldn’t help the way she started crying. “I’m so sorry, Evan, I just- I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this. I swear, I-”

“I know, Casey, I know,” he told her softly. Casey hated it. It would’ve felt better if he’d yelled at her, like she thought she deserved to be yelled at. Instead, he was too understanding, too patient, and too kind.

“I love you,” she blurted out.

“Don’t.” His voice wasn’t harsh but it was firm. “I know you want to say that, Casey, but please… just don’t.”

There was a long pause after that. Casey didn’t know what to say, although the shaking sobs leaving her body would’ve made it hard to speak anyway. Evan didn’t seem to be crying but his silence almost felt worse. 

And yet neither of them wanted to hang up the phone - that would make it real.

They let the silence hang for several painful minutes before Evan was the one to pull the bandaid off.

“I should go,” he murmured. “I’ve got to work in the morning.”

“Did you ever tell me what that job even was?” Casey asked, desperate to hold on.

“Yeah, Casey, I did,” Evan replied; not angry, almost amused. “Don’s Pizza.”

“Right,” Casey breathed out, feeling foolish for having forgotten. “I hope you have a good day at work tomorrow. Don’t, uh, don’t burn the place down.”

She had to admit, it had sounded better in her head.

“Yeah…,” Evan sighed. “Hope you have a good day at camp.”

Casey held the phone to her ear a while longer, expecting some sort of goodbye, but when she heard nothing she lowered her phone and saw that the call had ended. Something about the finality of it made her cry harder.

The sunset she’d previously been admiring had long since faded, and dark clouds were rolling in from the east. Something about that seemed fitting.

It felt as though, now that it was done, she’d always known that she and Evan were headed for a break up. But that didn’t make it any easier. She didn’t feel guilty anymore, but she wasn’t relieved either. She was just sad and, truthfully, she was okay with that. She was content to let it swallow her up until her heart matched the gloom of the incoming storm.

* * *

Casey made it back to the house just before the rain started. 

It was nothing like the thundering storm from earlier in the summer. It was more of a slow-moving but continually raining kind of thing. It wasn’t coming down in buckets, but it wasn’t letting up anytime soon either.

She let herself into the dorm and found her three roommates hanging out in the kitchen. Quinn and Penelope turned to greet her while Izzie continued with their previous arrangement of politely ignoring each other. 

“Casey, are you okay?” Quinn exclaimed, getting up from the kitchen table and walking over to her. They could obviously tell that she’d been crying. 

“Yea-” Casey tried, but her voice came out in a rasp. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yeah… yeah, I’m okay. Uh… Evan and I broke up.”

Quinn gave her a sympathetic look while Penelope urgently asked her what had happened. Casey thought she saw Izzie look up at her questioningly, but she found that she couldn’t meet her co-counsellor’s gaze. 

_It’s not Izzie’s fault,_ she told herself. 

_No, it’s yours, because she kissed you and you liked it._

She wasn’t sure when that other, more cruel part of her had started voicing itself in her mind, but she didn’t stop to think on it long. That voice was right- what did it matter where it came from.

She sat herself down at the kitchen table between Penelope and Quinn. Of course, that put her directly opposite Izzie. Casey bowed her head so that she wouldn’t have to look at any of them.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Penelope asked.

“Not really,” Casey sighed. “Honestly, guys, I think I’m just gonna head to bed.”

Even though she’d only been seated a few moments, she excused herself and got up from the table, walking dejectedly over to the staircase.

“I’ll, uh… I’ll go with her,” Casey heard Izzie murmur.

Casey felt her stomach knot at the sound of the other girl’s voice. She wasn’t ready to deal with… _whatever_ it was that they needed to deal with.

Still, she found that she didn’t want to tell Izzie not to follow her. That, or she was too exhausted to bother. Either way, she heard Izzie’s soft footsteps behind her all the way up to their bedroom. Casey wandered inside and Izzie shut the door behind them.

“I’m… sorry,” Izzie told her, hesitantly.

“Why? It wasn’t your fault.”

Izzie frowned a little. “I know, I just meant that break ups are hard and… I’m here for you. As a friend,” she added, hastily. 

Casey nodded but otherwise didn’t say anything. She collapsed onto her bed and lay there in silence. The sound of the rain tapping against the window was the only noise.

Izzie sighed and took a seat on the edge of her own bed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Casey was silent for a few more seconds, still laying flat on her back, before she answered, “No. I- I can’t. I can’t talk about him with…,” she trailed off.

“With me.”

Izzie didn’t sound upset by it, merely understanding. Casey nodded, still staring at the ceiling.

“I get it,” Izzie continued. “I’ll, um, I’ll give you some space then.”

Casey heard Izzie stand up from her bed and head towards the bedroom door. Before she could leave, though, Casey sat up and called out her name.

“Izzie, wait.”

Izzie turned, and Casey saw that she’d caught her off guard, her walls momentarily let down. She no longer looked understanding and patient.

Instead, it was clear she was hurting, yet hopeful, and Casey had the sickening feeling that she was breaking two hearts in one night.

“Thanks,” she choked out, “for understanding.”

Izzie’s face fell but she quickly covered it up with a weak smile. “Of course, Newton.”

Then she turned and left, closing the bedroom door again behind her. 

Where she’d felt hollow after her phone call with Evan, Casey found herself aching over the way she was hurting Izzie.

_Why is it I’m only ever hurting the people I care about._

She let herself fall back into bed, not bothering to change, hoping it wouldn’t be too long before she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, she felt like she’d been hit by a truck and then thrown off a cliff, hitting every possible rock or root on the way down. Her head ached terribly from her crying the night before, and her body felt like she’d run three marathons despite having just woken up. That fatigue likely came from the absolute shit sleep she’d had, tossing and turning all night long. She groaned loudly, thinking she had the room to herself.

“Rough night?”

Izzie’s voice startled her, and she rolled over to face the middle of the room. Izzie wasn’t in her bed but was instead rummaging around near the closet. She was already dressed and ready for the day. Casey hadn’t even set an alarm.

“Shit,” she muttered. “What time is it?”

“8:25. I thought I’d let you sleep,” Izzie replied, back still turned away from her.

“8:25?! What, do you think I'm the Flash or something? I know I’m fast, but I can’t get ready that fast!”

Casey began to throw the covers off herself, her body screaming in protest.

“Don’t bother,” Izzie told her, turning around at the sound of Casey’s grumbling. “I told Crowley you were sick and couldn’t be with the campers today. I’ll do the activities on my own.”

Casey paused mid-movement, one leg hanging over the edge of the bed. 

“What?”

“I told Crowley you were sick,” Izzie repeated. “So you can have the day off to rest.”

“You did that?” Casey knew she probably sounded like a moron but her brain felt like molasses within her skull. “How?”

Izzie shrugged. “I got up early and walked over to Crowley’s office. It’s not a big deal, Newton. I figured you could use the break.”

Casey frowned. Izzie was being too nonchalant. The previous night she’d been careful and reserved, hiding her emotions. Now, it seemed like she didn’t have any feelings at all. She wasn’t angry or cold or happy. She just seemed disinterested.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Casey found herself saying.

Izzie made eye contact with her for the first time that morning and Casey thought that maybe, just maybe, she could see a trace of emotion in her eyes. Something other than the weird, distant facade she was projecting. 

“I know,” Izzie told her. She gave a half-hearted kind of smile. “Enjoy the day off.”

Then she walked out of the room.

Casey wasn’t sure how to feel about the entire interaction. But she wasn’t about to complain either. Izzie had done her a huge favour.

 _Because she’s a good person,_ Casey thought to herself. 

She remembered Evan's words to her.

_"I can't compete with someone you already have feelings for."_

Casey squeezed her eyes shut.

_It doesn't really seem like Izzie has feelings for me, though, now._

But then she remembered something that Sharice had said.

_“Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe she’s just as confused as you?”_

Casey sighed to herself, falling back into bed yet again and pulling the blanket over top of herself. With Sharice’s words echoing in her mind, she felt determined to use her day off wisely, to think some things through and figure some things out.

First, though, she was going to get a little more sleep.

* * *

“Where’s Casey?” Abby asked for the fifth time, poking Izzie in the arm as she walked them from the mess hall to the dorm. 

It was just after lunch hour and the Flying Squirrels were going to grab their backpacks from the dorm before Izzie took them on a walk around the lake. Counselling the group solo hadn’t been too hard. She did have three younger siblings at home, after all.

But the girls had all insisted on asking about Casey, and that was the one thing Izzie wasn’t prepared for.

_Well girls, Casey couldn’t make it because she and her boyfriend broke up last night, which I think might have inadvertently been my fault because I kissed her a few days ago, which we still haven’t talked about, and before the kiss she was super mad at me because of a situation with my boyfriend, at the time, who’s no longer my boyfriend, another break up that was my fault, and so now we aren’t talking, again, because we went from fighting to kissing to ignoring each other to now, just, I don’t even know, being awkward, I guess?_

The internal monologue didn’t help much since it didn’t give her any answers and she obviously wasn’t about to share it with the girls.

“I told you already, Abby,” Izzie sighed, trying to remain patient. “Casey isn’t feeling well today, so she’s resting at our dorm.”

“Can we go visit her?” Abby asked eagerly. A few of the girls who were eavesdropping nodded enthusiastically from nearby.

“I don’t think so. I think Casey needs her rest and her…,” Izzie tried to find the right word. “... space.”

It turned out it was the _wrong_ word.

“Space?” Francesca piped up. “Why does she need space? From who? We’re in the middle of nowhere!”

“Yeah!” another camper, Lily, shouted. “Space from us? What gives?”

Izzie tried not to slap her forehead with her palm too hard as she felt herself losing control of the conversation.

“No, girls, not space from you,” she assured them.

“Space from you then?” Alia asked, although her tone made it sound like she was already sure of the answer.

Izzie sighed. Alia seemed to be one of those 11-year-olds who was too smart for her own good. Or, at least, too smart for Izzie’s own good.

Her momentary pause was taken as confirmation by the troupe, and they hurriedly began bombarding her with follow-up questions.

“Are you two fighting again?”

“Why does she need space from you?”

“What did you do, Izzie?

“Did Casey beat you in another race?”

“Does Casey’s boyfriend like you? Is that why she dumped him?”

Izzie whipped around to see who had asked that last one; it was one of the younger girls, Carmen, who was trying very hard to avoid Izzie’s gaze as if she knew she’d made a mistake in blurting out her question.

“Carmen, what made you say that?”

“Um…,” she was turning very red, and Izzie did feel a little bad for the way she was putting the girl on the spot in front of the entire troupe. “I heard your roommate talking about it at lunch.”

Izzie tried not to roll her eyes. Of _course_ Quinn- or Penelope, she supposed- would be gossiping about Casey’s problems at lunchtime, not even paying attention to who else might be around. Those girls were nice enough but they had no consideration for peoples’ privacy sometimes.

“So it’s true then,” Claire spoke up suddenly. “Casey needs space from you because she’s mad that her boyfriend likes you?”

Izzie didn’t bother correcting Claire on it being Casey’s _ex-_ boyfriend. Truthfully, a part of Izzie wanted to laugh at the absurdity of what the girls were suggesting. Still, she had to put her foot down.

“No. That’s not why Casey needs space. She’s sick and needs to rest, and I think we should start talking about something else once you all get back from the dorm,” Izzie told them as they approached their dorm room. 

The girls didn’t argue, dashing indoors instead to grab their things. Only Alia stayed outside with Izzie.

“I already have my backpack,” Alia said proudly. “I was thinking ahead when we went for lunch.”

Izzie smiled at the girl. “You must think you’re pretty clever,” she teased.

“Oh, I know I am,” Alia replied back haughtily. “For example, I know the other girls are wrong about Casey.”

“Oh?”

Izzie felt like they might be approaching dangerous waters but she let the girl continue anyway, glancing around quickly to make sure that none of the other girls had come back outside yet.

“It’s obvious, really,” Alia went on. “I don’t know how the others haven’t noticed.”

“What’s that?” Izzie asked, trying to tell herself that she was just humoring the girl.

“You like her.”

“Alia-”

“I know it’s true!”

Izzie huffed. “Ok well, it still seems irrelevant. Me liking Casey doesn't have to mean she needs space from me.”

“Oh, I already worked that out too,” Alia continued. “You must’ve done something.” The young girl narrowed her eyes. “Actually, I think that’s exactly what happened. My mom calls it self-saber-tage.”

“I think you mean self-sabotage.”

“Sure,” Alia shrugged.

“What does your mom do for work?”

“Oh, she’s a therapist. She helps people with all sorts of things… I think. She’s not allowed to tell me what they talk about. But she tells me fancy words sometimes.”

“Wow, you know, that makes a lot of sense,” Izzie muttered, mostly to herself, before addressing Alia again. “Has your mom also told you how smart you are?”

“Kind of? She calls me a 'smart as' sometimes, but I don't get it. Smart as what? An owl?"

“It's 'smart a _ss',_ honey,” Izzie said without thinking. Then she blinked when she realized what she’d said. “But don’t repeat that.”

“I won’t,” Alia said, smiling up at her. “And I won’t tell the girls about your Casey problem either.”

“Gee, thanks,” Izzie sighed, turning to face the rest of the campers as they finally began to file out of the dorm.

Thankfully, the rest of the day went by smoothly. The girls stopped asking about Casey, preoccupied instead with their walk around the lake, making bird calls and singing songs to each other as they went. Izzie, meanwhile, was thinking about what Alia had said, only half paying attention to her troupe.

 _I did not self-sabotage,_ she told herself firmly. _It’s not self-sabotage to give her space. If anything, it was sabotage when I chose to help Nate that night. But I didn’t even know, then, how I felt about her, so that can’t be self-sabotage, I didn't even know what I was messing up. I just shouldn't have helped Nate, that was how it all started falling apart. But if I hadn't, would I have ever figured out my feelings?_

Izzie shook her head in annoyance. It would make her dizzy to keep going around in circles trying to justify every action she’d taken. All that really mattered was that she'd realized she had feelings for Casey, she'd made the move to kiss her, and Casey had run away.

But now Casey had broken up with Evan. It made Izzie hopeful, and she felt ashamed of that, a little. She knew she needed to be there for Casey as a friend first. 

She would just have to be patient a little while longer. And what were twelve 10- and 11-year-old girls good for if not for testing one's patience, she thought ruefully, as she called out for the girls to stop hitting each other with sticks. 

She knew now how she felt about Casey, but she had no intention of being the first to bring it up, not with the break up happening so recently. She just had to hope that, when things were a little less complicated, maybe Casey would feel the same way about her too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would people be into reading a cazzie fic where they meet as little kids and then it follows them through the years and into college? probably angsty? lots of izzie-centric content? lemme know in the comments
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by evan, who said 'figure it out, casey', and then, bless her gay little heart, she did


	9. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter became longer than usual, my bad

“What do you mean there’s a party tonight?” Casey asked.

“I mean there’s a party tonight,” Quinn replied patiently. “You’re invited. We’re all invited, technically. It’s for the counsellors.”

The four roommates were seated at their kitchen counter, chatting about their plans for the day before walking over to the dorms and then the mess hall for breakfast. 

“It happens every year,” Penelope added, then gave Casey a shrug. “I guess you wouldn’t know that though. But yep, every year. It’s kind of like a… mid-summer bash thing, to celebrate us making it halfway through.”

“It’s already the end of the first week of August so… a little late,” Izzie muttered.

“Well, how come this is the first time I’m hearing about it?” Casey demanded indignantly. “I’m a very important person who should be notified of these kinds of things.”

Penelope and Quinn rolled their eyes. Izzie kept playing with one of her earrings, only half paying attention.

Casey tried not to let out a heavy sigh.

It had been three days since her break up with Evan, which had happened two days- or was it three, Casey couldn’t keep track anymore- after Izzie had kissed her. It meant that it had been almost a week and they _still_ hadn’t talked about it.

After her day off from the campers, Casey had decided that she needed to fix things with Izzie. It was clear that other girl was hurting; from what, exactly Casey wasn’t sure.

Was it because Casey still hadn’t brought up the kiss? Or was it because she thought Casey was mad at her about the kiss? Or maybe she felt bad about Casey’s break up and so she was trying to pretend like the kiss had never happened?

No matter how much she thought about it, Casey couldn’t figure out what Izzie was thinking. Which made sense, she supposed, since she couldn’t read minds and everyone was entitled to their own thoughts and emotions.

So she’d decided she would talk to Izzie about everything. But then Izzie had been distant again since the break up, and Casey was insecure, so it just never felt like the _right_ time for the two of them to hash it out.

Thinking about it that morning at the kitchen table, though, Casey decided that those were bad reasons not to talk to Izzie, and so she began formulating a plan. Then she heard about the party.

_It’s perfect,_ she thought to herself. _We won’t have to worry about campers and everyone else will be distracted at the beach._

And so she decided that she would finally confront Izzie that night, and they could finally figure out whatever was happening between them. Or, _wasn’t_ happening, since it had been almost two weeks that they’d been in their weird limbo, beginning with the Nate situation. There were just over three weeks left of the summer, and Casey didn’t want to spend another day of it stuck where they were.

_If only I’d realized that a little sooner,_ she thought ruefully to herself. _Maybe Izzie and I wouldn’t have wasted two weeks being weird._

_Just gotta make it through today, then we can clear the air._

It turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining, it was warm, and there was no bad weather in the forecast that would rain on the party later. 

Something about there being a party had an impact on the Flying Squirrels, making them more energetic, but not at all unruly. Even though the party wasn’t for them, they seemed genuinely excited about it for Casey and Izzie. It was the main topic of conversation for the day.

And also how Casey came across some very interesting information.

They were up in one of the conference rooms in the mess hall, and the campers were split into pairs for their activity. Each group was busy creating their own paper airplanes. Then, when everyone was finished, they would head outside and see whose flew the farthest. 

It wasn’t the most vigorous activity but the Flying Squirrels seemed to be taking it very seriously. It also gave Casey and Izzie a nice break from the effort of avoiding each other and allowed them to focus on their time with the girls.

Since the two had still been avoiding each other like the plague, they’d decided to each pair up with one of the girls. Casey was working with Alia. 

She hadn’t planned to partner up with her, but the tiny girl had made her way directly to Casey when they’d asked the girls to pair up. Casey didn’t mind, although she got the feeling that Alia was a very nosy child. Cute and smart, sure, but definitely nosy.

That’s why it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, really, when Alia asked her the question.

“So… how’s it going with Izzie?”

Casey tried not to let her frown show, focusing instead on their little paper airplane. They had decided how they wanted to fold it and now Alia was asking Casey to draw something on the wings that would look cool while it was flying. Like a decal, of sorts.

Still, Casey couldn’t completely ignore the small girl. She figured that would be frowned upon by the camp counselling gods.

“What do you mean ‘how’s it going with Izzie’?” she replied, hoping that by dodging the question, Alia would lose interest. 

She did not.

“She said you needed space from her, that’s why you didn’t show up the other day,” Alia said matter-of-factly.

“Did she now?” Casey asked, frowning harder.

There was one line on the blue flames she was drawing that just didn’t seem… flamey enough. Of course, it was getting hard to concentrate given the topic of conversation.

“Well… I guess I _made_ her tell me. But I think that was a good thing, she needed it,” Alia commented, sounding very full of herself, Casey noted. “She was just gonna keep doing whatever she was doing that was causing you two to be weird. But we talked about it, and you’re here, so I guess things must be all better now.”

Casey paused from her drawing and looked over at Alia. “You… talked about it? What did you talk about?”

“Her feelings, duh.”

“Her…,” Casey shook her head. “Alia, what _exactly_ did she tell you?”

“Okay, well, I guess, _technically_ , she didn’t tell me anything-”

“Ah,” Casey nodded, because that made more sense, and turned back to the airplane.

“-but I know she’s got a crush on you. And then something happened that made things all weird between you two.”

Casey froze.

“She has a crush on me?”

“Duh!” Alia shouted, drawing the attention of several of the nearby campers. “She totally-” 

Casey shoved her hand over Alia’s mouth before the girl could continue.

“That would explain the kiss, then,” Casey muttered to herself.

Alia’s eyebrows shot up and Casey felt her trying to speak against the palm of her hand. Casey eyed the girl and held one finger up to her lips: ‘be quiet’. Alia nodded, understanding, and Casey dropped her hand.

“You guys have _kissed?_ ” Alia whispered, although her tone made it very clear that she wanted to squeal. Then she paused thoughtfully. “Then why are you two being so weird?”

“Oh, because we haven’t talked about it yet. It happened almost a week ago.”

Alia opened her mouth and, in anticipation of the girl actually squealing this time, Casey covered her mouth with her hand again. Alia frowned and, after a few seconds, closed her mouth. Casey dropped her hand.

“Who kissed who?” Alia asked, very engaged in this turn of events. She had completely forgotten about the airplane on the table in front of them.

Casey briefly wondered if this was a breach of some sort of counsellor-camper contract, but she didn’t remember anything about it in the orientation. She supposed maybe it wasn’t the best topic of discussion between herself and an 11-year-old, but hey, she could use a fresh perspective. She sighed and continued with the story.

“Izzie kissed me. It was totally out of the blue. We weren’t even on speaking terms really, when it happened.”

“Because of the fight?” Alia asked, remembering the beginnings of their awkward tension.

“Yeah, that was because of stupid Nate,” Casey muttered. “Anyways, then Izzie kissed me and then I, uh, ran away-”

Alia rolled her eyes at her, showing her disapproval.

“-anyways, then I broke up with my boyfriend-”

Alia perked up at that.

“-but we haven’t really had a chance to talk things out since then. Izzie is still avoiding me.”

Alia tapped her finger to her chin thoughtfully. “That must be the self-saber-tage.”

“Huh?”

“Sabotage.” 

“Oh.” Casey thought about it for a moment before asking, “what self-sabotage?”

“Oh,” Alia smiled, “I told Izzie she was probably doing self-sabotage and that’s why you needed space from her. But now I think the sabotage _is_ the space. You two don’t talk about anything. You’re just avoiding each other all the time and making things super weird. My mom would say you need to communicate,” she finished, crossing her arms and nodding to herself.

Casey stared at the small girl next to her. “You’re very wise.”

“Thank you.”

“Teach me your ways.”

“Gimme twenty dollars,” Alia replied, holding out a hand.

Casey narrowed her eyes. “Smartass.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Casey laughed at that and Alia laughed too, and they got back to working on their paper airplane. 

Alia seemed to realize that the conversation about Izzie was over and she didn’t bring it up again. Casey, on the other hand, couldn’t stop thinking about what the girl had said.

_It’s probably true,_ she mused. _All we’ve done is avoid each other since the kiss. We’ve only been making things weirder._

Casey sighed to herself.

_All the more reason to talk to her tonight._

She nodded at the thought, then went back to the task of trying to draw the tricky blue flames.

* * *

The bonfire on the beach was enormous. 

Casey wondered if Camp Clayton had a special permit for hazardously large fires or if the coordinators simply turned a blind eye to it. Regardless, the fire served to illuminate much of the beach, showing off a party that was in full swing by the time Casey, Izzie, Penelope, and Quinn wandered down there.

Alcohol was being supplied by some of the young members of the kitchen staff; employees who had the freedom to make trips to the nearest towns and pick up liquor for events like this one. They’d stocked up on liquor, mix, and a variety of snacks.

“Who pays for all of this?” Casey asked incredulously.

Quinn smirked. “Oh, you know, the parents, mostly. They don’t know it, of course, but a lot of the camp budget goes towards feeding all of us.”

“And getting us wasted,” Penelope added, laughing.

Casey shook her head in disbelief. _I’m definitely going to have to tell Sharice about this._

The four girls grabbed drinks before heading towards the bonfire. It brought memories back of Casey’s first night at Clayton. 

She hadn’t known Izzie back then. Now she could hardly imagine _not_ knowing her, even with all the complications of the past two weeks. When things had been good between them, she’d felt as though she’d found someone she really belonged with, even just as a friend. 

The group mingled with other counsellors and staff as they hung out on the beach. It wasn’t long before, unsurprisingly, Penelope and Quinn left Casey and Izzie, saying something about playing beer pong or finding boys or just wanting to walk around. Casey didn’t protest- she’d been waiting for the right opportunity to speak with Izzie alone.

With Penelope and Quinn gone, Casey and Izzie stood facing each other on the beach yet still avoided eye contact. 

Casey knew that her feelings towards Izzie were still a little bit of a mess; she thought about her a lot and blushed around her a lot, and generally just felt _better_ when they were together. She wasn’t entirely sure what it meant, but she had decided that thinking and meaning didn’t matter as much as _doing._

“Izzie?” 

At the sound of her name, Izzie glanced over at Casey. Casey felt herself being pulled into that stare, the way Izzie’s eyes seemed to see her and know her, and want her around anyway.

_God, that’s so gay,_ Casey thought to herself offhandedly, and then realized what she’d thought. She couldn’t help the way she broke into a shy, little smile. 

“Izzie, I-”

They were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing loudly- it was Izzie’s.

Izzie shot Casey an apologetic look before reaching into her pocket at grabbing her phone.

“Oh shit, sorry Newton. It’s my grandma, I’ve gotta take this.”

And just like that, she wandered off. Probably trying to find somewhere with fewer people so that she could hear her call.

Casey sighed heavily.

“And then there was one,” she muttered to herself.

She meandered around the party a bit, keeping an eye out for Izzie but having no luck in finding her.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, then thirty. Casey began to get worried, and so she sought out Penelope and Quinn.

When she eventually found them they were chatting with some other counsellors near the beer pong table. They waved at her as she walked up to them.

“Newtoooooon,” Penelope drawled, the alcohol clearly taking its effect on her. “Wassup?”

“Hello Penelope, I see you’ve successfully gotten yourself a-wasted-” Penelope held up a cup as if to cheers her as she said it, “-I’m actually looking for Izzie though, she took a call a while back and wandered off. Any chance you guys have seen her?”

“Oh yeah,” Quinn replied distractedly. She was paying rapt attention to the beer pong game that was in progress nearby. “She said she was heading back to the dorm.”

“The dorm?” Casey repeated.

Quinn hummed in affirmation, and Penelope hiccuped before adding, “she said something about a boy.”

“Oh yeaaah,” Quinn chimed in. “Do not disturb, if you know what I’m sayin, Newton.”

Casey felt her stomach drop like a stone. It was a miracle that her knees didn’t buckle with the force of it.

“A… boy?” She stammered. “Who?! _Nate?”_

_Please don’t fucking be Nate._

“We dunno, man. She just mentioned it, she didn’t actually have anyone with her when she let us know,” Quinn answered.

“But still,” Penelope added, still hiccuping, “enter your dorm at your own risk.”

“Drink some water,” Casey instructed, pointing at Penelope before she turned and started walking hurriedly towards their dorm.

At least, she walked until she made it out of the crowd of people, then she burst into a sprint. She’d only had one drink so she was hardly even buzzed. Her mind was totally clear.

It made it way too easy to imagine Izzie, up in their dorm room, with some guy.

_I shouldn’t have waited so long,_ Casey was cursing to herself. _And what happened to having a ‘crush’ on me? Ugh, I shouldn’t have listened to Alia!_

Instead of tearing herself up about it further, she focused herself on getting to the dorm as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t long at all before she was dashing up the front steps two at a time and throwing open the front door. She continued running all the way up the stairs and to the door of their shared bedroom. It was closed.

_Open it!_

Casey had frozen up, her brain conjuring up images of what could be behind that door. Izzie and… whoever.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her breathing so it didn’t look like she’d just been sprinting as hard as she could, and she threw open the door.

Izzie was lying face up on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Or, she had been, before Casey had burst in.

At the sound of Casey pushing the door open, Izzie had sat up in surprise and was watching her with wide eyes.

“What the hell?” she huffed out, caught off guard.

“Izzie.”

For some reason, Casey couldn’t find any other words in that moment. She was still breathing hard from the running, but she was also experiencing a very overwhelming feeling: relief.

“Newton? Were you just… _running?”_ Izzie asked, confused.

She pushed herself off the bed and stood up, but was unsure if she should approach Casey or not. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Casey had almost managed to get her breathing under control, and she found herself staring at the girl in front of her. 

“Quinn said something about you and a guy back at the dorm.”

Izzie’s gaze softened, understanding dawning on her. 

“Oh, no. That was just because I wasn’t feeling like being at the party anymore after I got off the phone. Everything is fine with my grandma and the kids, but it’s just draining sometimes. And with Penelope and Quinn it’s all about partying as late as possible and getting wasted, stuff I just don’t feel like doing right now. So I made up an excuse to get them off my back.”

“Oh.”

Moments ago Casey had been so worried that Izzie might’ve been with someone else, _kissing_ someone else. Now Casey was so relieved, she thought _she_ might kiss her.

And then it clicked.

_You moron,_ Casey thought to herself. In that moment, she finally realized exactly how she felt about Izzie.

Izzie interrupted her thoughts. “Look, Newton, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been-” 

Casey didn’t let her finish. She crossed the distance between them in one step and kissed Izzie hard. She heard the other girl let out a small squeak of surprise, and she felt her own lips pull into a smile. 

Izzie’s hand came up to rest on Casey’s cheek as Casey wrapped one arm around Izzie’s waist, holding her tight. The other hand she curled around Izzie’s neck, fingers trailing through baby hairs. She thought she felt Izzie sigh against her lips.

She pulled back slightly, breathing hard.

“What are you doing?” Izzie whispered.

Casey smiled. “Getting you to shut up.”

Izzie bit her lip before breaking into a smile of her own. “You’re so corny.”

“That’s what they call me- Corny Casey.”

“I’d appreciate it if you stopped talking now,” Izzie told her, pressing her lips to Casey’s again.

Casey shut off her brain and let her body react like it had when Izzie had kissed her the first time. That part of her she’d pushed down, the part that had been so excited, welled back up, and she knew that kissing Izzie was good and right and wonderful.

“Izzie? We came back to see if you- oh my god!” 

The two girls sprang apart and Casey whipped around to see who had interrupted them. Quinn stood in the doorway, her jaw on the floor, eyes wide. Apparently their roommates had decided to leave the party earlier than usual.

Izzie turned bright red, and Casey could feel her heart pounding.

Somehow though, between all of them, Quinn still recovered first. “You know what, this makes _so much sense-“_

The spell broke, and Casey stepped away from Izzie and towards the door. 

“Bye Quinn!” she called out before slamming the door in Quinn’s face.

“Bye lovebirds!” came the loud reply from the other side of the door, then they heard the sound of Quinn’s footsteps running down the stairs- no doubt to tell Penelope what had happened. 

Casey shook her head, trying not to feel too embarrassed, and turned back to Izzie. Izzie, for her part, was staring at the floor, but she couldn’t hide the blush on her cheeks or the massive smile on her face.

“So that ruined the moment a little.” Casey said, laughing nervously before adding, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile so much.”

“Shut up,” Izzie murmured before raising her gaze back to Casey.

“You’re welcome to make me,” Casey teased, taking another step towards her.

Izzie laughed and pushed Casey to the side so that she fell onto the bed. “Wow, cocky much? One kiss and you think you’re, what, Casanova?”

“I think that term only applies to men,” Casey said thoughtfully, ignoring Izzie’s push. Then she gave her a smirk. “And technically, it’s been two kisses.”

Izzie blushed harder. “Yeah, uh… maybe we should talk about that?”

Casey chuckled. “Would you believe that was actually what I was planning to do all along? You’ve just been avoiding me so much it’s been impossible to get you alone!”

“ _Me?!_ As if you haven’t been avoiding me too!” Izzie shot back at her.

Casey gave her a sheepish grin. “Okay, okay, you’re right. I definitely did some of the avoiding.”

The two girls laughed a little, and Casey couldn’t believe it had been that easy. It was like all the tension was gone, all the weirdness was gone. It was just her and Izzie again, and she could handle whatever came next.

And what happened to come next was a much-needed discussion about, well, everything.

“Okay,” Casey started, propping herself up on Izzie’s bed with her elbows. “Where do you wanna start? Maybe with kissing me out of the blue in the woods?”

Izzie sat down on the edge of the bed, angling herself so that she was facing Casey.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good place to start. So, uh,” she hesitated, unsure of how to continue.

“Well, we were fighting about Nate-” Casey prompted her.

“Yes, I remember that part.” Izzie sighed. “Ok, so we were never _actually_ fighting about Nate because I already told you that I believed you the whole time. But _you_ were so mad about what I did- which, fair -but you were so mad you never even let me talk to you about it the next day!”

“What?! That’s not true!”

“It so is, Newton,” Izzie laughed. “I remember exactly how it went- you started shouting at me that morning and every time I tried to get a word in edgewise, you would cut me off. You practically ran out of the room.”

“Doesn’t sound familiar at all,” Casey said stubbornly, not willing to admit the truth.

That it sounded exactly like her.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happened,” Izzie shot back, although not maliciously. Just happy to be proving her point. Then she continued on.

“After you wouldn’t let me talk to you, I got angry too, because come on- we were supposed to be friends…,” Izzie trailed off and bit her lip again. “...and then things got complicated because thinking about that made me realize that I kind of felt… more… about you.”

Casey watched as Izzie became increasingly nervous. She thought it might’ve been the cutest thing she’d ever seen.

“And so I kind of got, um, stuck, I guess? Stuck in my own head for that week, ‘cause I wasn’t mad at you about Nate, but I was definitely mad at Nate _._ And then I kind of realized that I was less mad that he’d tried to cheat on me and more mad that he’d tried it with you. Which I thought was because you’re my friend but then it kinda dawned on me that I was feeling… jealous? I guess? Of Nate? Even though nothing happened between you two so...” Izzie frowned at herself. “This sounds so stupid.”

“No!” Casey assured her. “It doesn’t, I promise. It… it actually makes that whole week make a little more sense.”

Izzie gave her a grateful look, smiling shyly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Casey replied, nodding. “Although kissing me in the woods was a really risky move- I’m impressed.”

“Oh, shut up,” Izzie shot back, laughing. “That was because, once again, _you would not stop talking.”_

Casey blushed, remembering the way she’d lost her temper. “I had important things to say,” she muttered stubbornly.

“So did I!” Izzie laughed. “Anyways, I wasn’t really thinking it through when it happened, but then I did it and you kissed me back-”

“-well I-”

Izzie shot Casey a glare that said ‘shut the fuck up right now’. Casey did just that.

“-you kissed me back, don’t even deny it, and so then I was even _more_ torn up ‘cause right after that you straight up abandoned me in the woods-”

“I am really sorry about that,” Casey interrupted.

“It’s okay,” Izzie smiled, biting her lip again before adding, “You came around. But don’t think I’m letting it go that easily. Who runs away like that?”

“Corny Casey, that’s who,” Casey replied, using both thumbs to point at herself triumphantly.

Izzie couldn’t help the fit of laughter she broke into at the sight of it. When she got herself under control she sighed contentedly before adding, “And I guess the rest is kind of history, hey?”

Casey hummed. “I guess yeah. I avoided you for kissing me and you avoided me ‘cause I ran away from you in the woods- seems fair.”

“And then after the break up,” Izzie looked at her apologetically at the mention of Evan, “I didn’t want to pressure you so I just kept the distance between us as it was. Honestly… I was hoping you’d feel the same and eventually reach out to me.”

Casey nodded sagely. “Waiting for me to do all the work, I see.”

Izzie rolled her eyes. “Yes, exactly.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing then that I decided it was time to put in some work,” Casey teased, sitting up on the bed and leaning towards Izzie. 

Izzie’s eyes tracked the movement and her body responded in kind, leaning closer to match Casey’s. Eventually, they met each other halfway, resting their foreheads against one another.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Casey whispered.

Izzie didn’t respond. Instead, she took the lead and pressed her lips to Casey’s. She pulled back a moment later.

“I decided I’m tired of waiting for you to make the move,” she teased, her gaze flickering between Casey’s eyes and her mouth.

“Fair ‘nuff,” Casey mumbled, not really paying attention, wanting very much instead to resume kissing.

As she moved to close the gap between them again, someone threw open their bedroom door.

“Oh my god!” Penelope shouted.

The two girls sprang apart, again, and shot their intruder angry glares. From somewhere in the house they heard Quinn yelling.

“I told you so! Now pay up!”

Penelope ogled them a second longer before she winked at Casey. 

“Do not disturb, am I right, Newton?”

Izzie’s mouth fell open, unsure of how to respond to the comment, but Casey recovered quickly.

“Penelope, you’re wonderful, but I swear to god if you don’t close that door in the next two seconds I’m going to go all Terminator on your ass.”

Penelope stuck her tongue out at them before retreating hurriedly and shutting the door.

Casey turned back to face Izzie, looking sheepish. Izzie was staring at her with one eyebrow raised.

“Do not disturb?”

“That’s just Penelope being Penelope,” Casey said offhandedly.

“Mhm,” Izzie hummed unconvinced. 

She didn’t have time to say anything else before Casey pushed her back against the pillows and moved to hover over her.

“No more talking.”

Izzie laughed at that and wrapped her arms around Casey’s neck.

“Those might be the most romantic words anyone has ever said to me,” she teased.

“Just you wait,” Casey told her as she settled over Izzie, one arm around her waist, the other propping her up. “You’re mind is going to be blown by all the romance I have to offer.”

Izzie smiled up at her and instead of continuing their banter, she simply replied, “I can hardly wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright folks, one more chapter to go (and then maybe an epilogue) so i hope you’ll stick around - the final chapter will feature fluff, steamy makeouts, and a little payback against Nate, so plenty of entertainment left to be had
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by Sphen and Magic


	10. Conclusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is, the final chapter- it got lengthy, fam

The morning after the party, Casey woke up to the feeling of someone breathing against her neck. It tickled.

She rolled over and came face-to-face with Izzie sleeping soundly next to her. Casey smiled.

The two had fallen asleep next to each other in Izzie’s bed, after their long conversation and maybe a bit more kissing. Casey had slept well for the first time in a week, maybe two. The fact that Izzie had kept her snoring to a minimum was a tremendous help.

Her arm, wrapped protectively around Casey’s waist, was a bonus.

Casey rolled gingerly back over again, fumbling for her phone on the bedside table. Its clock read 7:45am. She sighed, knowing they would have to get up soon. She put her phone back down and let herself relax back into Izzie’s embrace, sighing again, although much more contentedly this time.

Several minutes passed in easy silence, Izzie still asleep, Casey happy to just lay next to her. 

Things had turned out okay, she decided. She knew she wasn’t completely over her break up with Evan- that would take time. But she didn’t feel overly guilty about this _thing_ with Izzie. It had been something they’d unknowingly been moving towards all summer. She didn’t want to have to fight it any longer, and she could make peace with that. 

Everything would get easier in time. 

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It was nice to not feel under pressure for once. Eventually though, there was a knock at their bedroom door.

“Uh… guys? Is it safe to come in?” Penelope asked, her voice muffled through the wood of the door.

“Yes, Penelope, it's safe,” Casey replied, rolling her eyes. 

Penelope pushed the door open hesitantly a moment later. “Uh, Newton, there’s… someone to see you at the door.”

Casey frowned. “Who?”

“It’s Crowley.”

Casey felt her eyebrows raise in surprise and she felt her pulse quicken. A personal visit from the camp’s head coordinator and she didn’t imagine it was to give her any awards.

“Ok,” she said hurriedly, disentangling herself from Izzie and the blankets. “Can you tell her I’ll be right down?”

Penelope nodded before retreating, her face betraying concern. She clearly agreed that Crowley’s visit wasn’t a good sign.

Casey threw on a hoodie over her t-shirt before creeping out of the bedroom. She spared a backwards glance toward Izzie who was still sleeping soundly, although Casey thought she looked poutier than she had moments ago. It was almost enough to make Casey forget Crowley. Almost.

She hurried downstairs and strode to the front door. Quinn was standing there, awkwardly trying to chat with the camp coordinator while she waited for Casey. When Quinn saw her arrive, she shot Casey a sympathetic look before muttering a quick ‘goodbye’ and dashing to her room.

Casey figured Penelope was hiding there too since she appeared to be the only one left on the main floor.

“Hi Crowley,” Casey panted, not sure why she sounded so out of breath. Probably from nerves, she figured.

“Gardner, good morning,” Crowley replied, eyeing her sternly, although not maliciously. “I’m here to ask you to come with me to my office this morning, we need to have a chat.”

“O-oh,” Casey stammered. “Uh, right now?”

Crowley nodded.

“Sure, I’ll just go get changed into something more…,” she glanced down at her outfit: a hoodie and athletic shorts. “...appropriate.” She turned to dash up the stairs again but paused for a moment. “Am I in trouble or something?”

“We’ll talk about it in my office,” was Crowley’s reply. Her expression gave nothing away.

 _So yes,_ Casey thought to herself and sighed heavily as she turned to go and get changed.

When she crept back into the bedroom she found Izzie awake, rubbing at her eyes.

“Newton? What’s up?”

“Hey.” Casey approached her, feeling the stress of Crowley’s arrival dissipate almost instantly. “Nice bedhead,” she whispered before planting a kiss to Izzie’s forehead. 

Izzie looked like she wanted to make a smart comment, but her body gave her away as she blushed uncontrollably.

“Nerd,” was the only response she could come up with. It was a weak effort. “So why are you up so early?”

“It’s not that early… but, um, Crowley is here downstairs. She says she wants to speak with me at her office.”

Izzie frowned. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“No. No it does not.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Izzie told her, trying to sound optimistic.

“I’ll find out soon either way,” Casey replied, pulling on a pair of track pants and throwing on her running shoes. “Ok, I’m outta here.”

“Ok, good luck, I guess?”

Casey nodded, smiling at her, trying not to show how nervous she was feeling.

_Just when things were finally settling down._

* * *

Crowley sat across from her in a tall, leather-backed chair. Casey found herself wondering if it was paid for with camp funds.

“So, Casey Gardner. Do you know why you’re here?”

“It’s not because of dashing good looks, is it? That seems like something Clayton would reward… _handsomely_ ,” she joked.

It fell flat. Crowley raised an eyebrow at her.

Casey cursed whatever part of her thought that situations like these were the appropriate times for bad puns.

“No, Gardner, you’re here about a bloody nose incident that happened almost a week ago, I believe.”

_Of course._

“Oh, that,” Casey replied nonchalantly. “I was a witness to the crime, sure.”

“The way I heard it, you were the perpetrator of the crime.”

Casey decided to cut the bullshit.

“Nate is an asshole,” she stated, eyeing Crowley with determination.

“Be that as it may, he, and by extension, his wealthy parents, are not too pleased about what happened.”

“Oh yeah?” Casey felt her temper flaring. “Do his wealthy parents know he tried to kiss me, against my will? I mean, that’s assault, right? He was basically-”

Crowley held up a hand to silence her. Then she sighed heavily.

“Look, Casey. I believe you, and I know the type of prick that Nate is-” Casey raised her eyebrows at Crowley’s words, and Crowley shot her a glare, “-don’t repeat that. Anyways, his parents are furious, and they are also some of the camp’s most important private donors-”

“Of course.”

“Let me finish. They’re important donors and so my higher-ups are scrambling to keep them pleased while they rant and rave about their son’s alleged ‘abuse’ at the hands of a co-worker. I believe they said something about wanting you fired.”

Casey’s jaw dropped. “No way, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m afraid they’re very serious, Casey. But I have a proposal that I think will work out in your favour. Rather than firing you, I will explain to Nate’s parents what happened between you two, and I will be sure to imply that not only was there a witness present- Izzie- but also that I am willing to vouch for you.”

“You’d do that?”

“I told you, I know _exactly_ the kind of person Nate is. Anyway, I still need to offer up some sort of punishment for you to placate them because threats alone won’t solve this, and so I think spending the last three weeks of camp on dish duty will suffice.”

“Dish duty?!”

“Yes,” Crowley nodded. “After dinner only, of course, so it doesn’t get in the way of your daytime counselling. I know Izzie can handle herself for the hour or two after dinners. Hell, she could probably handle the entire troupe on her own for the whole two months of summer.”

“You know-” Casey smiled in spite of the situation she was in, “-I think you’re totally right.”

Crowley smiled at her in return. “She’s a good kid. And you are too, Gardner, I’ve got a good feeling about you.”

“You hardly know me. This is, like, our first ever conversation longer than 30 seconds.”

“Maybe, but you gave an asshole a taste of his own medicine. You’re tough, I like that. Although I would never condone violence and if you repeat any of this I will fire you for real.”

Casey laughed at that, the tension she’d been holding in finally unravelling. “Fair enough.”

Crowley gave her another smile before she nodded firmly. “Alright, get out of here. And report to the kitchen immediately after you’re done with dinner. Someone there will know what to do with you.”

“Aye aye, Captain-” Casey stood, giving her a mock salute.

“Don’t push your luck, Gardner,” Crowley replied, already turning away and leafing through paperwork on her desk. “And shut the door on your way out.”

* * *

“Dish duty?” Izzie asked, voice hushed as she and Casey walked the Flying Squirrels to the mess hall for breakfast. “What does Nate get?”

Casey shrugged. “Nothing, I guess? A broken nose.”

Izzie huffed in frustration. “Well he deserves more, like, like… I dunno, a good kick in the nuts or something.”

Casey eyed her knowingly, lips pulling into a smile. “Don’t get any ideas.”

Izzie harrumphed but otherwise stopped her grumbling. 

Breakfast was uneventful, the Flying Squirrels being none the wiser to the changing relationship between their counsellors. Casey and Izzie sat next to each other at their long table for the first time in two weeks, and while they’d thought that might’ve caused a stir, the girls really didn’t seem to notice that much. Either that or they didn’t want to risk making anything weird by mentioning it.

While Casey was busy stuffing her face with the delicious food- pancakes that morning- she felt Izzie’s hand brush against her leg under the table. She would’ve let out a small gasp, except that she had a mouthful of pancake and instead inhaled the food. 

A few hacking coughs later, she could breathe again. Izzie had moved her hand away from Casey’s thigh and up to her mouth to keep herself from laughing too hard at Casey’s expense. Casey shot her a glare, but it wasn’t very threatening given how flushed she was with embarrassment. 

She hadn’t considered that the last three weeks of camp might be filled with an entirely different kind of tension than before. 

After breakfast, they went upstairs to the game room where the girls were going to be playing ping pong. The room had several tables, and the girls who weren’t immediately playing had free reign over the rest of the games in the room, including a few pinball tables and a dartboard.

Thankfully the darts were magnetic and the counsellors would not need to worry about supervising them too much. Or so they thought. Not even five minutes into the games, Izzie caught sight of the girls at the dartboard sticking the darts in their noses. Apparently, they were trying to make two darts stick around their nostrils. Izzie groaned before leaving Casey at the ping pong tables and going over to reprimand the girls.

Once Casey was alone she took to surveying the room without paying attention to anything in particular. It was nice to just do her job without worrying about problems with Izzie or Evan. She sighed contentedly.

Then she felt someone poking her back.

“You two seem good.”

Casey turned to see Alia standing behind her, smiling.

“Yeah? What makes you say that?” Casey asked her, smiling in return.

“I can feel it in the air, remember?” the young girl waved her arms, “and also I saw you flirting at breakfast.”

Casey blushed. “We were not flirting.”

Alia gave her an ‘oh, really?’ kind of look before adding, “I guess that means you talked about the kiss.”

Casey got the sense that she couldn’t hide much from the girl so she just shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Good,” Alia told her sternly, not falling for the ambiguous answer. “Now I don’t have to meddle and play matchmaker anymore.”

“Oh, really?” Casey replied sarcastically. “Is that what you were doing?”

“Yes, duh, and lemme tell you- it was a lot of work! I’m exhausted.” Alia threw a hand across her forehead dramatically. “And to think I did it all for _free,_ from the goodness of my heart-”

“Alright,” Casey interrupted her, “That’s enough of that, Drama Queen. Why don’t you go play a game?”

“Is that a suggestion or-”

“No.”

Alia frowned at Casey and stuck her tongue out at her, but then she skipped off towards the dartboard. Casey squinted at the girl’s back, suspecting she would not be playing darts, but had gone off instead to nag Izzie about the nature of their new relationship.

Casey shook her head and smiled softly.

_Kids._

* * *

The first few times on dish duty, Casey was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t that bad of a gig, as the Clayton kitchen’s had massive industrial dishwashers and she really just spent most of the evening loading and unloading them as opposed to actually cleaning things by hand. 

The first week was easy enough, although it was a bummer to not be able to spend the end of the day with Izzie and the troupe. But, it was a punishment, after all, so she didn’t complain and bore it silently. 

The kitchen staff were all friendly, something that made the job easier. However, they were also under strict orders not to help her beyond their normal duties, and they would even sometimes be told by their superiors to head out early and leave Casey with the end of the mess. That was when she started getting more jobs added to her punishment.

At first, it was just been loading and unloading. Then, if someone left early, it was unloading and putting the dishes away. Then it might be taking things for the next day’s meal out of the freezer to thaw overnight, which usually required several trips to their industrial freezers since they were feeding over a hundred people. Then, by the end of the first week, they’d also told her to wipe down all the counters at the end of the night so that everything was fresh for the next morning. 

She’d rolled her eyes and grumbled at each new task, but she knew it was better than the alternative- getting fired. Thinking about how smug Nate and his parents would be over it was enough to keep her working.

Then, at the beginning of her second week on dish duty, and also the beginning of the second-to-last week of camp, her time in the kitchen became much more enjoyable.

She was the last one left in the kitchens, a regular occurrence now at the end of the evenings. She had finished all of her duties except for wiping down the counters, and was just getting started on that when she heard the swing of the double-doors behind her. 

Turning, she was surprised to see Izzie strolling into the kitchens.

“Hey,” Casey greeted her, “What’re you doin’ here?”

“What? Not happy to see me?” Izzie teased, making her way over to Casey’s counter and stepping in front of her.

“Not at all,” Casey teased, placing her dishrag on the counter next to her and leaning back against it to regard the shorter girl. “I would’ve thought you’d be with our children.”

Izzie rolled her eyes at the comment, “I got a babysitter for the night.”

Casey frowned. “You know what? I’m not liking this role-playing now that I hear it coming from you.”

Izzie snorted. “Figures. Typical father, not wanting to deal with things like _responsibility_ -”

Casey laughed at her. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“A weirdo that you like,” Izzie replied, placing an arm on either side of Casey and leaning up to kiss her softly.

“Mmm,” Casey hummed, pulling away after a few seconds. “But actually, who’s looking after the girls? Are you gonna get in trouble by being here?”

“I swindled Penelope into taking them for the last hour of the night-”

“It’s already 8 o’clock? Damn.”

“Yeah, I wanted to come and see you.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet,” Casey teased, reaching for Izzie’s waist and pulling her closer.

“Mmm… plus I figured you’d be alone in here,” she replied, and Casey felt her pulse quicken as she watched Izzie bite her lip and look up at her mischievously.

She couldn’t come up with a witty response, her eyes hopelessly lost watching Izzie’s lips.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about saying anything as Izzie closed the distance between them, kissing her firmly, snaking a hand up her neck.

Casey tightened her grip around Izzie’s waist with her one hand, leaving the other on the counter beside her to steady herself. Izzie was pushing against her, one hand curled around her neck, the other-

Casey shivered.

Izzie’s other hand was toying with the hem of her t-shirt, and every once in a while she felt her fingertips graze the skin underneath. It gave her goosebumps. It made her feel like her like a lightning rod, Izzie’s touch igniting her.

Casey decided she could up the ante, too.

She brought her other hand up to Izzie’s jaw and she let her hand press into the skin there while she bit at Izzie’s bottom lip. Izzie let out of small gasp in surprise before Casey felt her dig her nails into the skin at the back of her neck. It pulled a soft moan out of the back of Casey’s throat, and she thought she felt Izzie smirking against her lips.

Their kiss was becoming heated faster than anticipated, but Casey knew they were alone in the kitchen so she saw no reason to stop. They hadn’t really kissed, not like this, since things had been fixed between them. They slept in the same bed and yeah, they kissed a bit too, but something about sharing the house with Quinn and Penelope always made Casey anxious. And Izzie, for her part, seemed nervous about the newness of everything as well. So they’d kept it chaste.

This was _not_ chaste, Casey decided.

Izzie’s fingers finally decided what they wanted with her shirt, and Casey felt Izzie bunch the material up so she could press her hand against Casey’s skin. Casey let out an unintentional whimper at the suddenness of the touch and it seemed to fuel Izzie more. 

Izzie pushed against her again, hungrier, and Casey felt her thigh slide between Casey’s legs. Izzie was short and the pressure of her leg didn’t quite reach the apex of Casey’s thighs, but it didn’t need to. Casey felt the closeness of her body, the greedy way that Izzie kissed her, and she felt her body respond in kind, a tension creeping through her in anticipation of more.

Before they went any further, though, Casey thought she heard footsteps outside the double-doors. She pulled back from Izzie suddenly.

“What-”

“I think someone’s coming,” Casey whispered, although it came out a little ragged as she was still breathless from kissing Izzie.

Izzie frowned, eyes still drawn to Casey’s lips, and Casey figured they probably looked kiss-swollen. Not unlike Izzie’s own. Izzie took a small step away from her and instead sidled up along the counter, standing next to her so they could both see the double-doors.

Sure enough, someone was coming to the kitchen. The doors swung open.

Nate walked in.

Casey was immediately thankful she’d heard his approach and had stopped kissing Izzie. It would’ve made the situation ten times worse.

Although it was probably already going to be pretty uncomfortable.

“Hello ladies,” Nate greeted them, sounding like his chauvinistic self. “Nice to see they’re putting you to work, Casey. Although I’m surprised to find you here, Izzie, since you _someone_ should still be looking after your troupe.”

Izzie glanced at a nearby clock. “Actually, they wanted to head to bed early tonight. Before curfew. That a problem or something?”

Nate smiled coldly, and Casey wanted to punch him again just to get the look off of his face. She felt her fists clench.

“Nope, guess not. Just thought I’d pop in and see how dish duty was going. Rough that you got stuck with it-” he eyed Casey, “-can’t imagine what you might’ve done to warrant this kind of punishment.”

“Oh, I think you know exactly how I wound up here,” Casey shot at him, arms now folded across her chest to force herself from doing anything rash. It was a weak kind of deterrent but she hoped it would work.

Nate was still walking towards them, and he eventually leaned back against the counter opposite them, regarding the two with smug looks.

“If I had known you two were gonna end up hooking up, I wouldn’t have made a move so early on. I might’ve been able to join in.”

Casey clenched her jaw, forcing every muscle in her body to stay put rather than leap at the asshole in front of her. The effort of staying calm, or, appearing to stay calm, meant that she wasn’t really paying attention to Izzie. 

“You’re such a prick, Nate,” Izzie shot at him. Casey felt a vibration on the counter behind her and she had a second to wonder what Izzie was doing before the other girl leapt into action.

Izzie had managed to reach an open container behind her. It was filled with flour.

Keeping a firm grip on the container, she threw its contents at Nate, who momentarily disappeared in a white cloud.

Then they heard him coughing. As the flour began to settle, Casey couldn’t help the loud laugh that escaped her tense body.

Nate was covered head-to-toe in flour. It was in his perfectly combed hair, up his nose, and sticking in his mouth. It looked like it had slipped within the unbuttoned collar of his pretentious polo shirt, and it coated his clothes as well.

Izzie placed the now-empty container back on the counter and grinned in satisfaction. Nate glanced down at himself before looking up at the girls in front of him.

“You know, you’re the one that has to clean this all up!” He shouted, trying to sound threatening but it was a hard feat to accomplish while looking like a very thin snowman.

“You know,” Casey tapped her finger on her chin, “Somehow I don’t really mind cleaning this up at all. And hey, cheer up man, I think flour is easier to clean out of clothes than blood.”

Nate shot them both dirty looks but opted not to say anymore, turning to stalk out of the kitchen instead, leaving little, powdery blobs of flour in his wake.

Izzie burst out laughing the moment he left through the double doors. “That was epic, Newton.”

“Me?!” Casey turned to her, grinning wide. “You were the one throwing flour. You’ve got some, by the way-”

Casey dusted flour off Izzie’s nose with a soft tap. 

“-right there,” she finished, before planting a soft kiss to the tip of Izzie’s freshly dusted nose. The other girl blushed.

“It was honestly all instinct,” Izzie told her. “I was really not thinking at all. Definitely was not thinking about the mess…,” Izzie trailed off, glancing at the flour littering the floor.

“A small price to pay,” Casey shrugged before she stepped away from the counter and went to find a broom.

Izzie kept her company, insisting that she help with the mess but Casey refused. Since Casey wouldn’t let her help clean, Izzie wandered around the kitchen looking for a pantry or supply cabinet so she could restock the flour she’d used.

As she searched the kitchen, Casey looked up from her sweeping and glanced over at Izzie. She felt a wave of admiration well up inside her. Izzie was good, and kind, and strong, and Casey…

Well, Casey had the feeling that she might be a total goner, her heart full as she watched Izzie from across the room.

* * *

The final two weeks of camp passed in a blur and before long, it was time to say goodbye to their campers. They were all supposed to be picked up around 10am that morning.

Casey and Izzie had to comfort several teary-eyed girls as they struggled to say goodbye to their friends and their counsellors. Truth be told, it made Casey a little emotional as well, but she refused to let it show in front of the young ones. She was more nervous about later in the day when the counsellors would part ways and she would have to leave Izzie.

They had talked about the end of camp, sure, about how they’d stay in touch and be sure to see each other during the school year, something made easier by the fact that they lived relatively close and Casey had her driver’s license. They weren’t really sure if they were dating or… what, but they both knew they would keep in touch.

Or, they both intended to. Casey wasn’t naive, though- she knew even with good intentions, it could be hard to maintain friendships if you were always apart, and she was worried about how new everything was between her and Izzie. If nothing was settled to begin with, would it be easier for them to drift apart?

Casey tried to avoid thinking those gloomy thoughts as they bade all their campers goodbye. Alia gave her and Izzie a final hug, together, putting herself squarely between them and pulling them both around her.

“You two are the best,” she told them, the words muffled by Izzie’s t-shirt.

“Take care, Alia,” Izzie replied, bending down to be at eye-level with the small girl. “And tell your mom thanks for all the advice.”

“Hey!” Alia shouted. “That was all _my advice_ and you know it!”

Izzie stood up, smiling, and ruffled the girl’s hair. Alia turned to Casey next.

“See ya later, Smartass,” Casey said, regarding her fondly.

Alia smiled, taking Casey’s words as a compliment. “Be careful with this one,” she fake-whispered, holding a hand up to the side of her face to block her mouth from Izzie’s view. Even though Izzie could very much still hear her.

Izzie rolled her eyes, but Casey just nodded sagely and replied, “I’ll do my best. You know she threw flour on her ex-boyfriend? I really gotta watch my step.”

Alia’s eyes widened and she looked like she desperately wanted to ask more, but her ride pulled up and her parent’s beckoned her from their car. She stuck her tongue out one last time at both of them before turning and heading towards her family.

“You’re a bad influence,” Izzie said, elbowing Casey lightly in the ribs.

“Hey, I’m not the one throwing flour.”

Izzie stuck her tongue out at her before continuing to say goodbye to the rest of the troupe.

Once all the kids had left Clayton, the camp felt eerily empty. Casey and her roommates were back at their dorm, everyone packing up and preparing for their departure at the end of the day.

Izzie and Casey were upstairs, each facing their side of the bedroom as they packed their clothes away. It was quiet, both lost in thought as the end of the day drew near. Pick up was scheduled for 4:30pm.

Finally, Casey had to break the silence.

“So, uh, are you excited for Senior year?”

“Yeah… yeah, I am,” Izzie replied a bit distractedly. “You?”

“Yeah…this is weird, isn’t it?”

“Yeah-” as Izzie said it she sighed heavily, half in relief that Casey felt the same, but half in apprehension about parting ways. “-it feels weird to think I’ll be away from you.”

“I feel the same,” Casey replied, turning around so that she could face her roommate. Izzie turned too.

“But we’ll be okay,” Izzie offered, sounding… tentatively confident. It wasn’t very reassuring.

“Yeah, I think so,” Casey told her. “I think… I think maybe we just need to…”

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” Izzie blurted out.

Casey blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Do you… want to be my girlfriend?” Izzie asked again awkwardly.

“No, I heard you. You just surprised me.”

“So… no?”

“No, yes!”

“Yes?”

Casey shook her head, laughing at the two of them. She reached forward and pulled Izzie to her.

“Yes,” she answered again, before planting a soft kiss on Izzie’s lips.

“Okay,” Izzie huffed breathlessly. “‘Cause I’d really like to do more of this. Officially.”

“Mmm… me too,” Casey hummed. “What about Friday night? We could get slurpees and… I dunno…”

“Makeout in the car?” Izzie offered, giving Casey a cheeky grin.

“You know,” Casey mumbled, leaning in for another kiss, “It’s like you read my mind.”

* * *

4:30 rolled around, but Casey didn’t feel nearly so nervous about leaving as she had before. She watched the Gardner’s station wagon pull up to the sidewalk outside her dorm, right on time. 

Elsa Gardner, punctual as ever.

Casey glanced at her roommates, all three of them sitting in the front living room. Of course she’d been the late kid on day one, but _now_ her family showed up on time? Figures.

She gave Penelope and Quinn hugs, each girl telling her that they’d stay in touch, and Casey believed that they just might. Maybe. Possibly. She had their numbers, so anything could happen.

Then she turned to Izzie and gave her a hug too, and a quick kiss.

Penelope and Quinn made gagging noises behind them, but in reality they’d been really supportive of their roommates “passionate love affair”, they liked to call it.

“Okay,” Izzie breathed. “I’ll see you around, Newton?”

“Yeah, how does Friday sound?” Casey teased.

“Oh, sorry, I’ve already got a hot date on Friday,” Izzie replied, grinning at her.

“Unbelievable, woman. I’m not even out the door yet.”

A honk sounded from out front. Casey rolled her eyes.

“Get outta here, Newton,” Izzie smiled, playfully pushing her towards the door.

“I can’t believe you’re already trying to get rid of me!”

“Drama queen,” Izzie shot back, “I’ll see you Friday.”

“Friday,” Casey nodded. “Bye guys!”

Her roommates waved as she left the dorm and made for the car parked out front. She opened the back door and climbed in. Sam was notably absent.

“Hi Casey!” Elsa greeted her excitedly, twisting around in the front to smile at her daughter. “I can’t wait to hear about camp- tell me stories all the way back to the house!”

“Nope,” Casey replied, pulling out a pair of headphones and making to put them in her ears.

“Aw, come on, Case,” Doug spoke up. “Your mother hasn’t seen you in two months, and you know I’d like to hear some of these stories too.”

“Your friends are waving so nicely from your front window,” Elsa observed, waving back at them like the embarrassing mother she was.

“Mom, oh my god! You’re so weird,” Casey leaned forward, trying to force her mom’s hand down into her lap. 

Doug laughed and began to pull the car away, before glancing out the window towards the dorm one last time.

“Say, Case, who’s the one girl waving still? Looks like your other friends got bored,” he chuckled.

Casey looked out the window and felt her lips pull into a smile.

“That’s Izzie.”

“She must like you a lot,” Elsa mused. “She’s still looking out the window.”

“Yeah,” Casey sighed against the glass. “I like her a lot too.”

Doug and Elsa shared a knowing look across the front seats but Casey didn’t notice. She pressed her nose flat against the glass, making a face, and saw Izzie laughing through the window. 

Casey felt herself grinning, and she kept grinning as Doug pulled a U-turn and led them out of the Clayton campgrounds. It wasn’t until later that she even thought to ask about Sam and why he hadn’t joined them for the ride. 

She’d been too busy thinking about Izzie, and the promise of slurpees on a Friday night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, i hope y'all enjoyed it  
> xo
> 
> this chapter was sponsored by Slurpee Night™


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